A God? Me?
by lives4love
Summary: An Alternate Ending and Epilogue to TLO, When Percy and Annabeth confront the gods after the battle. But wait… three gods all have different plans for them? What will they decide to do with the two demigods?
1. Who's It Going To Be?

**I know this is a pretty common fan fiction, but I was inspired to try to write me own version. The first few paragraphs and all of the characters are completely Rick Riordan's. My story starts on page 350 of TLO right after Annabeth agrees to rebuild Olympus.**

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced. My name echoed around the chamber.

All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone's eyes were on me – all the gods, demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by the fire again. Her smile gave me the courage to keep walking.

First I bowed to Zeus. Then I knelt at my father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said.

I stood uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like me. I looked around. Most of the gods either had warm smiles or no expression. The only different expression was that of Athena, who was avoiding eye contact, but still not a single one protested.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

I hesitated. "Any gift?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson – if you wish it – you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve on Olympus or as you father's lieutenant for all time –"

"This is absurd! The boy deserves a gift perhaps, but IMMORTALILY? Absolutely ridiculous!" It was Athena who interrupted Zeus.

I was frozen in place; no one talks back to Zeus, not even his favorite daughter.

"Athena, we agreed to give this boy whatever he wished. If he wishes to become immortal then so be it." Zeus said, his voice was strained due to his growing impatience.

"I will not have it!" Athena announced. "He is not even the hero of the prophecy! My daughter did just as much as that sea spawn had. He just happened to be there and he–"

"Athena! I do hope you are not requesting that we deny my son the rights to saving the Olympus!" Poseidon interjected.

At this point I was frozen in place in the middle of the chamber before the 15-foot raging gods. But, even though they were fighting about whether or not I will become a god, it just hit me what this would mean: no more camp, or Mom, or Paul, or school, or friends, or… or…. I looked over to the grey eyed girl standing behind me. Her face was pale and her eyes were locked on me as I stood there, frozen. I flashed back to two years ago, when I'd thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. I'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I'd lose her. Now, she looked pretty much the same way.

Then Aphrodite cut in as well, "Athena is right! We cannot make Percy a god! Imagine what that would do to poor Annabeth! Now I have worked long and hard to get these two where they are now and I will not just let you throw it away because of some silly little gift!" She kept blubbering on and on.

My eyes were still on Annabeth. Her cheeks blazed with a deep blush, while mine, no doubt, did the same.

Poseidon, Athena, and Aphrodite were all arguing about my current state of being when Zeus bellowed, "SILENCE!" All eyes went straight to the powerful Olympian. "Now, without any more input from our three hotheads," he gave a meaningful look at each of them and continued, "would anyone else like to say any words before we vote on whether or not Perseus will be granted immortality?"

"Lord Zeus, I would like to offer a… compromise," Hestia said in her small yet confident voice.

"Please, do go on," Zeus urged, obviously growing tired of the topic at hand.

"Well, Lord Poseidon wishes for Percy to become a god as a gift from the gods, Lady Athena believes that Percy is being given too much while her daughter did just as much, and Lady Aphrodite wishes for the young couple to stay together," Hestia stated.

I felt my cheeks burned again after she said the last part.

"Please, Hestia, do get to the point," Zeus pleaded.

"Very well. I propose that we bestow both young heroes with our gift," Hestia said simply.

Mumbling filled the room as the gods each deliberated the idea. Meanwhile, my face lit up like a little boy on Christmas morning. Annabeth and me… gods?

Zeus cleared his throat loudly but only got half the room's attention so he pounded his Master Bolt on the floor once, creating a loud boom of thunder to fill the room and electricity to scatter on the floor. "Now that I have your attention," he said, "we will begin the vote. All those in favor of Percy and Annabeth joining us here in Olympus as gods rise."

I was shocked. All but Hera and Athena rose, even Ares and Dionysus stood.

"Does that mean that we're going to be…?" Annabeth trailed off, mostly talking to herself.

Zeus finished her sentence, "Gods? Yes. We can make the transformation at the moment or you may visit all of your families and friends for the last time while you are still mortal."

I looked over at Annabeth to confirm what already knew she wanted, "We wish to visit our families first, Sir."

"So be it, you must meet us back here in 48 hours for the ceremony. Don't be late!" He declared.

**Please Review! I love constructive criticism so please leave some and I will post soon!**


	2. Goodbye Mortality

**Disclaimer: the story belongs to Rick Riordan with my personal twists**

"Percy!" My Mom's whole face lit up when she saw me at the door. She gave me a huge, suffocating hug and dragged me into the house.

When we came into the living room, Paul was sitting on the couch with a big grin on his face. The whole house was happy I was home, granted there were only two people, but they took their toll. How was I going to tell them I was leaving? I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and I decided to enjoy their love while I had it.

We all talked for a while about the war and how we won. Mom's eyes lit up when she heard Poseidon saved the day; I knew she'd always have a soft spot for my dad. That was always nice to know.

Eventually the unavoidable question came up, "So what happened on Olympus?" my mom asked, she always asked the wrong (or in her eyes, the right) question.

"Actually I kind of have to talk to you about that…" I admitted, not looking her in the eyes.

"Well go on then," she urged.

"Okay, well, they – the gods – were giving all of the main heroes gifts. Thalia will have more hunters with Artemis, Tyson got a big stick, Annabeth is redesigning Olympus –"

"Annabeth's redesigning Olympus? That's… wow, what an honor! Tell her congratulations for me, will you?" Paul raved, he was always secretly into building and anything like that excites him. I gladly took the distraction from what was next on my list.

"And what did you get, Percy?" there she goes again, saying the wrong-right thing.

"Well… I was given something very special… and rare. Actually Annabeth and I both got it, and it's a funny story because –" I ramble when I am nervous but and my mom knew that too.

"Percy, what did they give you?" she pressed.

"Okay, they gave both me and Annabeth the gift of immortality; they're going to make us gods." After I said it, they were both speechless.

We sat there for a minute and then Paul spoke, "W-wow… th-that's something alright."

"Yeah, it's a great honor and privilege." I said, not knowing what else to say. I mean what do you tell your mom when you choose to become immortal and leave her for all eternity?

My mom was completely speechless, but Paul on the other hand was completely amazed. He asked loads of questions, "What are you the god of?"

"I don't know yet."

"How do you become a god?"

"I don't know yet."

"Where are you going to live?"

"I don't know yet."

That's pretty much how the next ten minutes went before I actually knew the answer to something, my mom asked, "Can you visit us?"

"Of course!"

She was thoughtful for a moment, "Will you visit us?"

"As much as I can."

After that we all decided to do a family game night, a big fun for a last hurrah. We played Monopoly, Sorry, Charades, Apples to Apples, Pictionary, and every other game we owned while feasting on some blue cookies and brownies I helped my mom make.

That night, before I went to bed, I thought about lots of things: being a god, what I would be the god of, what I'd gain, what I'd lose, who I'd miss, and then Annabeth. My fun, best friend who I'd get to spend an eternity with; as I thought about her I realized that all the pain of what I'd lose, would be balanced with all the joy my new life would bring. Well that's Nemesis for you, give and take. In this case all I can do is thank the goddess for some equilibrium. The world needed it… so she should be thanked. That's when I took a piece of paper and a pen and started writing down my idea.

The next morning I woke to the smell of Mom's fresh blue waffles. Since Mom and Paul didn't have to work today, due to the aftershock of the war New York didn't know happened, we were going to spend our last day together in Montauk.

We stayed in the same little cabin we always did by the beach. It feels as if just yesterday I opened the cabin door to the pants less Grover. Now that was a weird day.

We did everything we could in the time we had. We walked on the beach, swam in the ocean, played volleyball, had a mid-day campfire, and buried Paul in the sand. But, at three in the afternoon we had to pack up and leave, I was due in Olympus in a couple hours.

The drive to the Empire State Building was sad. Paul and I were quiet while Mom was rambling about my baby years and how I was the cutest toddler. I think in her eyes it was like I was going to college, a college that never ends. When we pulled up to the curb we all got out of the car and piled into the lobby. I gave Paul a big hug and then I gave my mom an even bigger hug. I've always been with my mom; it was so hard to leave.

I wiped a tear from my eye as my mom put on her brave face and gave me an encouraging nod. Before I entered the elevator with the key card from the front desk, the guy behind it now recognizes me, I told my mom, "After I am immortal I am going to visit you, I promise," and with that I went into the elevator and shoved the card into the slot and headed up to Olympus.

When the door opened I was shocked to see Annabeth just standing there on the ledge. I gave her my best 'What are you doing' face and she just said, "Shut up and come on, Seaweed Brain."

We made our way through the ruins of Olympus to the Great Hall where the Olympian thrones were. When we entered the giant doors all the Olympians were there and three extra: Hestia, a girl with wavy black hair and sky blue eyes, and a boy with brown hair and brown eyes.

When I looked around all but two gods were smiling, Hera and Athena. I guess they truly didn't want to deal with us for… well forever. I couldn't blame them; you can only handle so much Annabeth. I smiled at my own joke and I really wished I'd said it out loud but I saw Hera smile a little so that made me feel a bit better.

Then Zeus spoke, "Welcome Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, I'd like you to meet our cupbearers: Hebe and Ganymede," he gestured to each accordingly, "They will be serving you Nectar and Ambrosia from our fountain and garden."

"So we just eat it and drink it?" I asked and Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes, but first we must bless it," Zeus answered.

Hebe and Ganymede held up the Ambrosia and Nectar to the twelve gods as if to present them with something valuable. Then Zeus put his hand in, followed by everyone else. They all began chanting something that I recognized as ancient Greek then the food glowed lightly and faltered. Hebe then presented a beautiful white chalice with gold designs filled with golden Nectar to me while Ganymede presented an equally beautiful plate full of Ambrosia squares to Annabeth.

"Eat or drink what has been presented to you," Zeus said.

We did as he said. The Nectar tasted different than usual, stronger. From the way Annabeth's eyebrows shot up, I guessed the Ambrosia was the same. I drank the contents of the completely huge chalice until there was nothing left and then I waited for Annabeth to finish. I started to feel funny. Like my body was overheating. My Stomach felt really warm, as if I just drank some SUPER hot hot-coco. After the heat became too much my vision got hazy and I blacked out.

**Please Review! I will post soon!**


	3. Immortality

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all**

**Thank you to all of those who reviewed, alerted, and/or favorited my story! It is much appreciated!**

The first thing I saw was the clear skies above Olympus. Right now I was sporting an intense after-nap confusing awareness. I sat up in an instant and looked around. Where was I? This was the first, very important question on my list of many. The room was big and it had small beds lined up along two walls. It reminded me of a hospital, but nicer. The roof was missing and the daylight shown in throught the ceiling. When I continued to scan my perimeter I saw Annabeth in the bed right next to me. Her eyes started to flutter open as she stumbled into consciousness.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" She prompted.

"I'm not sure…. Maybe it was too much for us?" I guessed

"Wait! Are-are we gods?" Annabeth asked.

I opened my mouth to answer her but I realized I had no clue. Were we?

Just then the double doors to our left opened slightly and Poseidon peaked in. His eyes were worried at first then they softened when he saw Annabeth and me sitting up. He said, "I thought you two would never rouse," he let out a big sigh of relief and then continued, "Anyways are you fit to walk? We must head down to the Hall so you may be decided."

Annabeth and I exchanged confused glances but nodded and got out of our beds. We followed Poseidon to the Great Hall where all the gods were in their thrones. Poseidon went to join them on his own, ocean-decorated throne. Annabeth and I stood before the gods, waiting to hear what they had to say.

Artemis spoke first, "How did you sleep?"

"Um, well we were kind of blacked out.…" I said and she smiled sweetly.

"Now then, we have some matters to discuss." Zeus announced. The room listened politely to him as he spoke, "You are now immortal, yes, but you are not yet gods. To become a god you must be decided. Do you wish to become gods?"

"Decided?" Annabeth asked just before I did.

"To be decided is to become the god of something, like myself with the sea or Zeus with the sky," Poseidon informed us.

"Would you like to be decided?" Zeus repeated.

I looked over at Annabeth and she nodded eagerly. I answered for us, "Yes, we would."

"Very well then. Let the decision begin." Zeus announced.

Then the gods began to openly discuss our decision. And, from the sound of it, they weren't getting anywhere. I tried to keep up but they were all talking fast and all at once. I only could pick out words like, "Messenger!" "Fish!" "Idiots!" but it was pretty obvious they were discussing me first.

Out of instinct in a nerve-racking situation, I reached into my pocket and clasped my hand around my pen. Riptide. Wait a minute….

I rose my hand anxiously, unsure how to interrupt a decision.

Poseidon noticed me first and gave me a curious gaze. Then he nudged Zeus who spoke, "Would you like to add something Percy?" He looked a little annoyed that I was interrupting.

"Yes, I would. Could I make a suggestion?" I asked, not really sure if it was allowed.

Zeus looked around the room and saw a couple nodding heads, "I suppose."

I took the pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, revealing its true form. "Could I be the god of tides? You know… like riptide?" They all knew the name my famous sword.

A couple of them smiled – Poseidon, Demeter, Hermes, Artemis, and Apollo – at my connection and Hermes said, "You know, we don't have a god of waves yet…."

Zeus nodded and said, "Perseus Jackson, would you like to be the god of waves and tides?"

I felt a smile spread across my face when I said, "Yes, sir, I would."

"So it shall be done. Step forward." I did as I was told and Zeus lifted his right hand, just as he had to bless the ambrosia and nectar, and the others did the same. They all chanted ancient Greek in unison, "_Περσέας Jackson, γιο του Ποσειδώνα. Μπορούμε να σας κάνει ένα θεό. Ο θεός των κυμάτων και παλιρροιών, προστάτης της ισορροπίας τους. Έχουμε αποφασίσει.__"_ I knew it translated to, "Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. We make you a god. The god of waves and tides, protector of their balance. We have decided."

As soon as they had finished, I felt… different. More powerful, maybe? I knew one thing for sure, I felt more aware of my surroundings. I took in every face, each with different levels of curiosity. They were all waiting for me to say something but all I could say was, "W-wow!"

I looked over to Annabeth, expecting to see her roll her eyes at me but she was closing her eyes tightly. I then realized that I was glowing. I was in my true godly state; she would be turned to ash if she saw me. I racked my brain, _How_ _can I de-glow myself?_ I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, concentrating only on the soft beating of my heart – which now ran with ichor rather than blood.

Soon my glow diminished and Annabeth peeked out of one eye and relaxed. I smiled at her and she smiled back, she was excited to change too.

"Let the decision begin," Zeus announced, queuing the random idea flow. Again I only heard small words here and there, "Leadership!" "Knowledge!" "Quick thinking!"

Annabeth's smile grew more and more with every proposal. But her smile spread the widest when Athena offered her idea, "Architecture?" She didn't shout it like the others, but it was heard loud and clear. We all knew Annabeth was an amazing architect, it was perfect for her.

Zeus spoke through the murmured agreements, "Annabeth Chase, would you like to be the goddess of building and architecture?"

"Yes, I would," the smile on her face was contagious. Half the room was wearing a genuinely happy smile.

"Then step forward." The gods raised their hands and spoke in ancient Greek again, "_Ανναμπεθ Chase, κόρη της Αθηνάς. Μπορούμε να σας κάνει μια θεά. Η θεά του κτιρίου και την αρχιτεκτονική. Έχουμε αποφασίσει._" (translation: Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. We make you a goddess. The goddess of building and architecture. We have decided.)

I saw her begin to glow. She was beautiful. Her hair was shining in the glow and her smile sparkled. She looked back at me and I blushed, _Dang, I still do that as a god?_ Her cheeks flushed as well and then she looked back to the gods and she said, "Thank you."

"Thank you," I said after her, feeling rude for no saying it first.

"You deserve what you now have. Now, you may roam Olympus, but we ask that you don't leave until you can master your godly state. We don't want random deaths to pop-up. So, seven to ten days tops," Zeus said.

"Should we go then?" I asked, unsure what to say next.

Zeus sighed and said, "Yes, go."

**Please Review! Remember constrictive criticism! Thank you for reading! I will post soon!**


	4. Getting Some Answers

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all**

**Thank you for all the reviews, every single one makes me smile! And to answer a review question, this story is nowhere near done. I will tell you if I am getting close to that point but I think I am ways away, I've got a lot of story ahead of me!**

Annabeth and I began to walk around the ruins of Olympus.

"I can't believe it," she said incredulously, "we are actually gods!"

"Yeah, I know, it's like it's not real," I said, smiling at her excitement.

"Are you happy with your decision?" she asked, lifting one delicate eyebrow.

"Yeah, I think I got lucky. I mean I have something involving water, something that has a good and bad side, and something that relates to me." I said smiling widely, "How about you?"

"Is that even a question? Of course I am happy! I mean Percy! We're gods!" she practically squealed.

I smiled at that, "I just wish, you know, that we knew more."

Annabeth was thoughtful for a while, and then she said, "So, let's get some answers."

She dragged me behind her through the city to a small suburban area. It had little two-story houses lined up and each had a completely different design, kind of like the cabins at camp. There had to be hundreds of them. We walked down the brown cobblestone road and I was shocked to see that this part of Olympus suffered minimal damage. The worst of it was in the courtyard and entrance.

As we walked I saw a couple minor gods, like us, coming in and out of the houses. I didn't recognize any of them, but I guess Annabeth did because she yanked me over to one of the houses. Where the address number should have been the names 'Eros & Psyche' were carved in.

Annabeth knocked on the door. A beautiful girl answered it, she looked maybe 18. She had straight caramel-brown hair with pieced bangs falling at her eye brows and her eyes were a beautiful blue. She wore a simple white knee-length dress that had pockets near the bottom. "Can I help you?" she asked in a beautiful voice.

I was probably drooling at the moment so Annabeth answered her. "Yes, you can. I'm Annabeth and this is Percy. We kind of were just decided but we don't know anything about gods, so we were wondering if you could fill us in?"

Psyche's face lightened and she gestured into her home, "Please, do come in."

We went inside to see an almost honeymoon suite-like décor. Psyche led us to a red loveseat while she sat in a matching armchair right across from us. She studied us for a moment; Annabeth and I probably looked pretty uncomfortable because we were sitting so close together. She said, "I haven't properly introduced myself! I am Psyche, goddess of the soul. And could you give me a more… complete introduction of yourselves?"

Annabeth answered first again, "Of course. I am Annabeth Chase, now goddess of building and architecture. And this is –"

I cut her off because I wanted to introduce myself, "Percy Jackson, god of waves and tides," I said with a proud smile.

Psyche smiled too and she asked, "Why, Annabeth and Percy, are you asking me to teach you about being a god?"

"Well I guess we could have asked anyone, but you are famous for becoming a goddess just like we did. You were brought to Olympus by Eros and transformed into a goddess by the council of gods."

Psyche nodded and smiled, "Well, someone does her studying." She giggled and continued, "What would you like to know?"

While Annabeth deliberated, I said the first thing that came to my mind, "Where do we live?"

"That depends; do you wish to live alone? Or you could share a home with someone. For example, I live here with Eros while many single gods lives alone. It is just a life style choice."

"And who builds the homes?" Annabeth asked.

"In the past each god built their own homes. But, now that we have an architect, you will probably be requested to build them." Psyche said.

Annabeth smiled widely and asked, "Where do we live until they're done?"

"You could bunk with one of the single gods," Psyche offered.

"Do you have any suggestions on who to bunk with?" I asked.

"Most are easy to live with; I would avoid Nemesis, Hygeia, and Eris though. They are all a bit difficult, but anyone else I would say is good." Psyche advised.

"I have another question. What has changed about us?" Annabeth asked.

Psyche deliberated for a moment then said, "Well, for one, you are now immortal. You only can eat ambrosia and drink nectar, everything else just burns away before they satisfy you. You need less sleep, about two or three hours will do. You don't need to use the bathroom and you don't sweat, which I believe are pluses. You now have powers, depending on your decision. And –"

Annabeth interrupted, "I am sorry for cutting you off, but what would our powers be?"

"I am not really an expert, everyone is different. But if I were to guess I would say a power of yours could be a great memory. You probably have the brain of a computer now to hold all of you schematics and blueprints. Also, you could be like a patron goddess to the architects of the world. You can test these assumptions in full later. That would be the best way to know." Annabeth was smiling like crazy, probably at the first power.

"What about me?" I asked.

"You are the god of waves and tides, yes?" I nodded and she continued, "So you should be able to control them. You might have to work on your temperament so you don't accidentally make a tidal wave and cause a lot of damage. Also, as you become more aware of your powers you will probably be able to feel the things in the tides, whether it be people or animals or even trash." Everything she said sounded pretty cool; I really hoped to find no trash in my domain though. "Again, I would recommend practicing, it would make it easier to see that way."

Psyche told us a lot about being a god. We discussed the basic god powers, the ones every god possesses. She told us that the minor gods have a feast once every other day, which is how often we should eat. She told us that monsters wouldn't come after us anymore, thank gods for that. We talked about the relationship between the Olympians and the minor gods, which wasn't very strong. She even mentioned godly marriages and how powerful they are; apparently nothing can break apart a godly marriage, divorce is not an option.

We stayed for a couple hours, talking about a lot of different topics. We left mostly because Eros returned from earth and the couple began getting a little too romantic.

Annabeth and I headed out to look for the vacant spots for houses. There were two vacant areas opposite one another. Perfect.

We continued to roam Olympus until we returned to the main square. We sat at a bench when Annabeth started to plan out her house. We had decided that Annabeth would build her house first and then I would stay with her until she finished my house. So, Annabeth was working on the designs for her house today.

She reached into her backpack, which I just noticed she had, to get her Daedalus laptop. She started working, occasionally asking me for some idea but otherwise concentrating. I started getting bored so I told her, "I am going to look for a house that I can stay at, do you want me to ask around for you too?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, please. I want to stay with a girl; I've heard some horror stories about the guy girl thing." She said with her eyes still on the computer. I rolled my eyes and smiled, _Classic Annabeth_.

"Yeah, sure no problem, are there any guys I should look out for?" I asked.

She looked up and said, "Not really, I would try not to bunk with Momus; I've read that he is really rude. But, other than that, you're good."

"Momus, got it," I said, determined to remember.

"Lets meet back here; I don't really plan on moving." She said and smiled.

"Okay, see you later." I waved to her as I walked away but she was already reabsorbed in her designs.

**Please Review! Leave constructive criticism! I will post soon!**

**I will try and make a regular schedule and post on Wednesdays, but if I am running behind it would probably be bumped to Saturday. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Finding A Temporary Home

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all**

**Hold your horses guys! Percabeth is coming, slowly but surely! Right now they are a little distracted with all the god stuff, but don't worry I have a plan!**

I must have asked a dozen minor gods if I could stay with them but they all said no, granted most were girls, but I couldn't find many guys. Also a bunch of houses were empty, like they haven't returned to Olympus yet. Which I guess makes sense, a lot of them were on the titans side in the war; I would have to try not to hold that against them. I was trying to look for somewhere to stay near the vacant areas Annabeth would be using for construction. I went up to the next house and looked at the names carved into the side: Hercules & Hebe. For a moment I was incredulous. Hercules? Really? Oh, I had to see this! He has been my idol for the past five years.

I was about to knock on the door, but I stopped myself. What did I have to say to him? I mean it's not like I can stay here, there were already two people living here. I would have to just meet him another day, when I actually have something to say.

I moved on to the next house. This one was labeled 'Harmonia'. That didn't sound so bad, so I knocked. A redheaded girl with green eyes answered the door. She smiled a dazzling smile and said, "Hello there! Would you like to come in?"

She seemed nice enough so I said, "Yeah, sure."

She lead me into her little sitting room and asked me to sit down, "Would you like anything?"

"No thanks, I'm good," I said with a smile.

"Well then, may I know your name, stranger?" She asked.

"Yeah of course, I'm Percy Jackson, god of waves and tides," I smiled hugely again, saying my new title would never get old. "And you are?"

"Oh! How rude of me! I am Harmonia, goddess of harmony and concord. But, anyhoo, I've never seen you around here; which is odd, because I know everyone." She said.

"Oh, well Annabeth and I are new gods." I explained.

"And, who is Annabeth," She asked.

"My best friend, we were rewarded for saving Olympus," I explained further.

"Oh, I see! You are the new ascended heroes, congratulations!" she said.

"Thanks, I actually came here to ask you if she could stay here for a while, just until she finishes building her house in the empty spot a couple houses down." I proposed.

"Oh, of course I wouldn't mind! I would love to meet her!" She exclaimed.

"Great! Then she will probably be over in a couple hours, maybe not until after dark. Today she is in planning mode for her house." I smiled; I had finally gotten a temporary home for one of us.

"Any time would do for me!" She said radiating happiness, of course what can you expect from the goddess of harmony.

I left Harmonia's house to find somewhere I could stay. I found 4 similar houses, two on each side of the road. They all had 'Anemoi' along with a name carved on their houses. I walked up to the first house. It said 'Boreas & Orithyia' under Anemoi. I moved on to the next house, I needed to live with someone who lives alone. Living with a couple would be just plain weird.

The next house in the Anemoi square said 'Eurus' and they were single, so there was at least a fighting chance.

I knocked on the door. A man opened it, but only a little. He peeked outside his house and said, "Yes?"

"Um, I'm Percy Jackson, god of waves and tides. I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to, well meet you, I suppose." I said, unsure if I actually wanted to live here yet, this guy looked kind of sketchy.

"I-I am Eurus, god of the unlucky east wind." He said.

Yup, I am not staying here, "Okay, nice meeting you," I said as I began to back away from the weird wind god, who gladly took the invitation to close the door.

I walked across the street to the next Anemoi house. This one said 'Notus'. _Here we go again_, I thought.

I knocked again. A man answered the door. He had brown curly hair and he wore summery clothes. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. I am Percy Jackson, god of waves and tides, and I have been looking for a place to stay until my house is built." I said, just wanting to stay somewhere and not caring who it was.

He squinted angrily at me, "Why would you want to stay here?"

"I am just looking for somewhere to stay, I really don't care who I stay with anymore." I said with bit of acid on my tongue, I was getting annoyed by his glare.

"Well then, why don't you stay with Momus? He lives three houses down and he is always looking for someone to talk to." Notus said back, his snarky attitude was not helping the fact that I had been wandering around for hours.

"I will check there then, thank you for being so kind," I shot back with a sarcastic undertone.

He closed the door and as I walked away I realized that I had just gotten on the bad side of a wind god; that was definitely going to come back and hit me later.

I walked past two houses and arrived at one that read 'Momus' just above the doorway. I knocked hopefully on the door. As I waited, I felt like there was something I should remember. Just as that thought occurred, an average sized man with black hair answered the door, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, please. I am Percy, god of waves and tides; would you have a place I could stay for a while until my house is built?" I asked.

"But of course! My house is always open to those who need it." He responded happily.

"Really? Oh, that's great!" I said, overjoyed. I had finally found a house where I could stay!

"Yeah come by any time," he said.

"Awesome! Ok, I will come by later then," I announced.

"I'll be here," he said.

And, with that, I headed toward the courtyard to meet up with Annabeth.

Annabeth was still sitting in the same spot with her laptop. It has been hours since I left, how can she concentrate for that long? Oh wait, we're not demigods anymore, we don't have ADHD.

She heard my approach, looked up, and smiled. "What took you so long, Seaweed Brain?" She inquired.

"Just looking for somewhere we could say." I said truthful.

"Did you find any houses?" She asked, still half concentrating on her laptop.

"Yeah, and they're not too far from the empty sites." I told her.

"Great! So, who are you staying with?" She asked.

"Um, Momus, I think," I said and she lifted her attention from her laptop and gave me an icy glare. She was obviously thinking somewhere along the lines of, _You're an idiot_.

"Momus? You mean the only god I said you shouldn't stay with?" she asked impatiently. Well, that explains the evil glare.

"Um," I suddenly remembered what I had forgotten earlier, "Oh… yeah," I said.

"Do you even know what he's the god of? Did you even ask?"

"Um…well, no."

"Mockery and ridicule. He's the god of mockery and ridicule, Percy. He was kicked out of Olympus because of it too; they let him back in when the war started."

"I think I can handle it," I sighed, I really was an idiot.

"That's going to be rough. He is going to be insulting you night and day." She warned.

"It's not going to be too bad, I mean, it's not like I will be there all day every day." I said; I have pretty good tolerance either way.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So, where am I staying?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, right. You're staying with Harmonia, goddess of harmony. So, living with her won't be so hard," I said, hoping she would be happy with the home I picked for her.

"That sounds doable. So when should I meet her?" She asked.

"Whenever you are ready to sleep I guess." I said.

She nodded, returning to her designs. There was an awkward silence; I knew I would pay for this in a moment, "So, what are you working on?"

With those magic words her face lit up. She began explaining what she had been doing for the last three hours. She talked about the layout, the details, the sizes, and she showed me several blueprints. She asked me questions here and there but they were pretty infrequent. As she talked on and on I couldn't help but smile when I thought, _She hasn't changed a bit with immortality. Thank gods for that, if she did I would miss this way too much_.

**Please Review! I can't stress that enough, please do review. I love constructive criticism; it helps me become a better writer. Thank you to all of you who have or plan to review, and of course thank you to my readers! I will post soon!**


	6. Revisiting Some Mortals

**Disclaimer: All belongs to Rick Riordan**

**I feel compelled to announce that my story has reached 50 reviews! Thank you so much to my reviewers, I appreciate every comment!**

When I woke up I realized the waiting was over, it had been exactly one week since Annabeth and I had become gods. Today we can see our families again! And, after we visit our families, we are going to visit camp! We get to see our friends, and see how they have recovered from the war.

I got out of bed quietly, not wanting to wake up Momus, my annoying roommate, sleeping one room over. I got ready in a hurry and left the little house. That would be the last time I would be in that dingy hut with that jerk, today I would start living with Annabeth until my house is finished. I had definitely heard my fair share of insults over the past week, trust me they're not confidence boosters. I went to the main square, where Hermes asked us to meet him for our teleporting lesson, and waited for Annabeth. She arrived just before Hermes. He said, "Are you ready to visit some mortals?"

Annabeth and I nodded vigorously, too excited to talk.

"Good now are you guys going to travel together, or are you going to different places? And then where are you going?" He asked.

I assumed we were going to each visit our parents, but Annabeth spoke first, "We are both going to visit Percy's mom first." She said and she smiled at me and I smiled back.

Hermes said, "Very well. So, you two should be touching – hand in hand, arm to shoulder, arms linked, I don't really care – and then you both have to think of where you are going, in your case think, 'The home of Paul and Sally Blofis,' then snap and wait three seconds. Go on, give it a try."

I offered my hand to Annabeth, she smiled and took it. I closed my eyes and thought, _The home of Paul and Sally Blofis_. Then I snapped. I heard her snap a millisecond later.

Still hopeful if worked, I counted to three and opened my eyes.

We were still in Olympus. I noticed Hermes shaking his head in mock disappointment. He said, "You have to snap at the same time. Here, try again out loud. This is a practice so keep your eyes open."

In unison, we said, "The home of Paul and Sally Blofis." Then we snapped simultaneously.

"Good," Hermes said, "now try again, close your eyes. One, two, three, go."

_The home of Paul and Sally Blofis_, I thought. Then I snapped at the same time as Annabeth. _One, two, three_. I opened my eyes and I was in my room with Annabeth.

We smile widely at one another and then we went into the living room.

Paul was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper and Mom was in the kitchen cooking. Annabeth and I walked in really quietly and waited to be noticed. Annabeth and I exchanged looks, not knowing what to do to get their attention. But then, she started to giggle quietly and my mom looked over her shoulder and literally dropped what she was doing, "Percy!"

She rushed toward me and smashed me into a suffocating hug. My shirt grew wet with my mother's tears. She pulled back and said, "Where have you been! You said you would come back right away!" I flinched a bit at her yelling, but then I thought, _What if Annabeth was in my mom's place_? I shuddered at the thought; I would have had a bruise the size of Alaska on my arm.

"We came back as soon as we could, Zeus wouldn't let us leave." I explained

"And, why is that?" My mom questioned.

"If we came right away and lost control we could have accidentally turned you to ash." I said.

Paul stood and said, "Let's just be glad they are here and that we don't belong in the fireplace," then he walked over to give me and Annabeth hugs.

We sat in the small living room and talked about the last week.

I talked about some of the gods I've met and some of the things we've done such as parties, there was a big one right after the war; feasts, which we have had three of so far; and a lot of cleanup, the main square was really messed up.

Annabeth began explaining things in more detail after I mentioned the cleanup. She talked about the architectural damage and the work it would take to fix different things. She talked about the office she was given near the Olympian courtyard, which is a very convenient location. And soon she was going on about her house, which she had just finished building and furnishing.

"What does it look like?" my mom asked.

"It looks really nice. It has a blank blueprint paper wall with lots of room for new designs. It has everything I need if I get inspired! Oh, and it has a library wall and a big desk will all my supplies!" Annabeth explained.

"Yeah, it kind of looks like a mix of an office room and the Athena cabin." I interjected, giving them a little more explanation.

"What does Percy's house look like?" Paul asked.

"I am not sure what it is going to look like. I have to start planning it, so Percy; we have to get together later so we can discuss that." She said and I nodded in agreement.

"Oh! Paul, we forgot to ask them. Are you two the gods of anything yet?" Mom asked.

As if by magic words, both Annabeth's and my face lit up and we smiled. "Actually we have! I, Annabeth Chase, am now the goddess of building and architecture!" Annabeth beamed.

"And I am now the god of waves and tides!" I added.

"Wow, that's something all right! I was afraid you would get algae or something," Paul exclaimed.

Annabeth and I laughed and I said, "Believe me, I was too" and we all laughed again.

We talked for a good four hours before I thought we should go and visit her dad. "I am sorry to cut our visit short, but we have two other stops to make tonight." I said after Annabeth finished her conversation with Paul about proper measurement.

My mom's face fell slightly, "Where are you going next?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to answer but Annabeth beat me to it, "Camp."

"What about your dad? Don't you want to visit him first?" I asked, a little shocked by her answer.

Annabeth began to look pretty uncomfortable, "Um, we can visit him later." I tried to gain eye contact with her but she avoided it. I would have to ask her later, when we were alone.

We gave hugs to both my mom and Paul and I grabbed Annabeth's hand. I closed my eyes and thought, _Camp Half-blood_, and then Annabeth and I snapped in unison. _One, two, three_.

When I opened my eyes we were standing next to Thalia's tree on top of Half-blood hill, alone. I looked over at Annabeth and asked, "Why don't you want to visit your dad?"

She looked away from me and said, "It's not important."

I squeezed her hand, still in mine, softly and said, "You can tell me."

She shook her head, still looking away. I reached toward her with my free hand and guided her chin to face me, forcing her to look me in the eyes, "Annabeth, you can tell me."

She gulped and said, "He-he didn't take the news well, let's just keep it at that," and she looked away again.

I nodded softly and kept my eyes fixed on her. I noticed a tear roll down her cheek. In an instant, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her close. Her head rested on my shoulder and I felt her tears stain my shirt, but I couldn't care less. I just needed to comfort her.

We sat down next to the giant pine, being sure not to wake Peleus, and I held her while she cried. Her hair lightly brushed against my face and the smell of lemon soap filled my head. It smelt so amazing; I started to stroke her wavy, blond hair. As I held her I began to think about a hundred different things. Things about her that made my heart want to sing: her warm skin, her bright eyes, her soft voice, the way she fit perfectly in my lap. _Whoa Percy, slow down_, I thought to myself, _She's your friend, your best friend, nothing more_. Annabeth really was more than just a friend to me… but how could I tell her that. I just had to concentrate on being Percy, her friend. Right now that is all she needed, all she wanted.

**Please Review! I am not sure if I should do the next chapter in Annabeth's point of view so please give me feed back! I will post soon!**


	7. Back To Camp

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all**

**This whole chapter is in Annabeth's point of view, enjoy! **

I don't know why I was crying so much. I hardly ever cry, and if I do I am always alone. It just wasn't like me to break down in front of Percy… or well on top of him. He held me as I attempted to control my short, potent sobs; hugging me to his chest and stroking my hair.

When I finally stopped crying, I wiped my eyes and just held still. I didn't want to move out of Percy's arms, it just felt so right being there. There was a moment of silence and then Percy said, "You okay?" His voice was filled with worry and anxiety.

"I'm fine Percy, I just…" I deliberated it for a moment and decided, "…haven't been dealing with things very well. How do I look? Are my eyes all red?" I wondered; I was a little embarrassed to be in public with red and puffy eyes.

"Actually, no. You look perfect," he said and my cheeks burned.

"Thanks," I mumbled, I was never very good at taking those kinds of compliments.

"Well then," he said and stood up, offering me his hand, "shall we?"

I took his hand and we started toward the Big House. The walk was a little awkward. Percy kept looking at me funny; like he really wanted to say something but I ignored him, if it was important enough he would tell me.

When we reached the Big House, the first thing I noticed was the same old scene: Mr. D and Chiron sitting around the pinochle table. Mr. D was wearing a leopard print shirt and his running shoes, like always, and he held a can of Coke.

Chiron noticed us first, "Percy? Annabeth!" his voice was filled with confusion at first and then it grew into exclamation as he stood and raced toward us in his magical wheel chair.

We each gave him a big hug and smiled hugely. Just then, Grover scuttled out from the Big House. He looked frantic until he saw us. "Percy! Annabeth!" he bleated just before he strangled us with his embrace. "Where have you been? We haven't heard from you in forever!"

Just then a redhead dressed in shabby, sloppily painted clothes emerged from the Big House. Why the hell was Rachel here? She turned toward us curiously and her eyes widened. "Percy!" she screamed and then she tackled him to the ground with a hug. I clenched my fists together to control the warmth pooling in my stomach.

"Rachel… h-how are you here?" He asked. He shifted to support himself on his elbows with Rachel practically lying on his chest. I breathed hard through my nose. Grover looked over at me and then at Percy and Rachel on the floor. He quickly reached down and pulled Rachel to her feet while I did the same for Percy.

"She rode Blackjack over the portal," Grover explained.

"Wait, you rode my pegasus?" Percy asked Rachel and she nodded enthusiastically, Percy grimaced briefly. "Why are you still here?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that no one told you. I am the new Oracle," She said, smiled just a bit too brightly.

"What do you mean? We already have an Oracle," I said, allowing no acid to escape my mouth.

"Our previous Oracle has long outlived her time. She was supposed to be replaced long ago, but a curse had been placed on her which did not allow anyone new to fill the position. But, when Hades was accepted by the Olympians, he lifted the curse. Thus a new Oracle," Chiron explained.

"I see," I said simply. I had calmed down, now ignoring Rachel's presence. An awkward silence was suddenly in our company.

Then Grover suddenly said, "But, seriously, where have you guys been? You've been gone for like ever."

"Oh, come on G-man! We were only gone for a week." Percy said.

"He is right you know, Percy. He's exaggerating but he's right. We haven't heard a word from either of you since the battle. If it wasn't for this young satyr we wouldn't have known anything of your whereabouts." Chiron was scolding us now. It was nice how he didn't treat us any different; it felt like old times.

"Sorry Chiron. We've been kind of busy for the last week, what with the designing and schematics. It's all very time consuming," I said, beginning to talk faster, "I have been building my house while simultaneously redesigning the destroyed Olympian courtyards. And, on top of that, there is a lot to learn after you become a god; we still have no idea what mine and Percy's powers are and –"

"–Dear Annabeth, I apologize. I should have known you were both very busy. Pray tell, what exactly has happened on Olympus after everyone dispersed?" Chiron said, interrupting my rant. From the corner of my eye I saw Percy looking at me in the same odd way as before, smiling.

Then Percy responded, "Well, Zeus decided we would both become gods. Then, he said we could go home and say goodbye to our families, he gave us 48 hours. Then when we got back there was this whole ceremony thing and it was like –" thunder sounded in the distance and Percy said, "I guess that's something I am not suppose to tell you, but then I became the god of waves and tides while Annabeth became the goddess of building and architecture."

"That is so cool!" Grover said giving Percy a high five. Rachel smiled and inched a bit closer to Percy. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"It is quite remarkable. Who would guess that you two would become gods," Chiron said almost to himself.

"Yeah, it was so weird at first, like none of it was real," I said and Percy nodded in agreement.

"Oh, enough of the dribble-drabble. It's not as if no one has ever become a god before. There have been countless before you, including myself, so don't feel special," Mr. D said from the pinochle table.

Chiron looked back at him with an annoyed expression, shook his head and asked, "Would four like to accompany me on a walk?"

"Of course," Percy said.

We talked to Chiron for about an hour before he had to go to teach archery. Percy, Grover, Rachel and I decided to head over to the Poseidon cabin to relax. We walked into the empty cabin, cleverly avoiding anyone who might attack us with questions. Percy took a seat on his old bed, I sat in a chair near his night stand and Grover leaned against the bed frame. Rachel took a seat next to Percy on his bed after everyone was settled. I felt my cheeks blaze and I looked away while I gained control of my emotions.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" I asked after I composed myself.

Grover looked down at his watch and grimaced, "Actually, I should probably go. I was supposed to meet up with Juniper over an hour ago, she is probably worried sick," he said a bit sadly. We said our short goodbyes and as he was walking out the door he stopped and said, "I'll see you at dinner, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Percy said.

I nodded in agreement and smiled, "See you later, you big satyr!"

And, with that, Grover grinned and scuttled out the door.

"So, you're the new Oracle. What does that really mean?" Percy asked.

"Well, I am pretty much the one people come to when they want a quest." She said.

"Wait, can you just give a prophecy whenever you want?"

"Actually, no. If someone comes to me for a quest and I start saying a prophecy, then they do what it says. If I don't give them a prophecy, it means they are not right or the quest. There is a lot of fate mumbo-jumbo involved."

"Do you do anything else as the Oracle?" I asked, ignoring the fact that Rachel was fiddling with a loose strand of her shirt, barely paying attention.

"Yeah, lots of stuff," she said absently, "I help out a lot in the Big House, I do a lot of things with the councilors, and I am supposed to do chores around camp to make things run smoothly. I guess you can say I am kind of Chiron's extra hands." Rachel said.

"Are there any perks or drawbacks?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, lots. Like Apollo is going to help me make a little "Oracle pad", as he called it. I get to hang out with some really cool demigods. Chiron is letting me use one of the spare rooms in the Big House as my own art studio. And, best of all, instead of just hearing about the life of a demigod, I get live it!" she said, smiling.

"And the drawbacks?" I asked.

"Oh, right. The only thing that really comes to mind is probably the whole purity thing," she said.

I felt my face light up at that. "What purity thing?"

"Chiron said that in order to become the oracle I had to give up boys, because they usually lead to impurity. But, it's so worth it. If I hadn't become the Oracle, those visions would have been Hades on Gaia… did I say that right?" Suddenly, I liked Rachel a lot more.

"Close, most demigods would say, 'Hades on Earth.' Gaia is just a tiny step too far." I said and she nodded, obviously making an effort to remember.

We talked for awhile about Percy and my life on Olympus. Rachel grimaced slightly when we told her that Percy was going to live at my house for a while, but she didn't say anything. She was a lot easier to talk to when she wasn't all over Percy; maybe I'd even be able to stand dinner with her.

"Well it has been really nice catching up, but I have to go. I have a lot of stuff to do before dinner. I'll see you guys then," she said with a smile.

"Bye," Percy and I said together. Then Percy and I were alone and it was quiet. _I wonder what he's thinking_. To distract myself I began to l ook around the wide room. _I wonder if Percy wants his house to look like this on Olympus_, I thought.

"Hey, Percy, do…" Just as I was about to ask I saw him staring at me, "…er, what are you looking at, Seaweed Brain?" I asked, feeling slightly comfortable.

He shook his head, looked away, and quickly said, "Uh, nothing."

"No. Tell me, Percy," I pressed.

"J-just forget it."

"I can't, please tell me. I keep seeing you looking at me funny and it's going to bug me until you tell me," I pleaded. He looked at me and away, obviously really uncomfortable; I was so going to make him tell. I leaned toward him slightly and batted my eyes.

I saw him gulp and I smiled slightly. I love to win. "Please?" I said again.

Then, suddenly, he kissed me.

I froze in shock. The kiss was modest, just barely a peck on the lips, but it still sent my mind to Olympus and back. When my mind stopped spinning and I refocused on him, I noticed that he was blushing ferociously.

He looked me frantically in the eyes and said, "Annabeth, I-I'm so sor–"

But I didn't let him finish. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gently pressed my lips to his. And now, he was the one frozen in shock.

**Please Review! Please tell me what you thought of the chapter and Annabeth's point of view. I hope you enjoyed it! I'll post soon!**


	8. Capture the Flag

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all**

**I am so sorry that I am so late! Thank you all for being so patient, I apologize for the delay!**

**This chapter is in Percy's POV, I found it a bit difficult to write in Annabeth's for some reason. Also, switching perspectives is apparently very difficult for me, so I probably won't do that very often. Well I hope you enjoy!**

Di-did she just… kiss me? Was I dreaming? No… I couldn't be. This was really happening! The failure to control myself landed me with Annabeth… kissing _me_.

She pulled away, her cheeks burning bright pink when she looked into my wide eyes. I wanted to kiss her again but I figured I shouldn't push my luck. Also, I was still frozen. I didn't know what to say so I sputtered, "I-I-I…" I took a deep breath and said, "We should go; we'll be late for dinner."

Her face fell slightly and I panicked internally. "Yeah… you're right, we should," she agreed. Great, now she probably thinks I am just going to forget about the kiss…. I can't believe that _I_ kissed _Annabeth_, more importantly, _Annabeth_ kissed _me_.

We walked together out of the cabin and headed toward the dining pavilion with the other campers. I kept wondering what Annabeth was thinking. Was she thinking about the kiss? My accidental brush-off, maybe? I couldn't let her think about that.

I reached over and took her hand in mine. She looked up at me, confused. I smiled down at her and she returned it with a bright grin. We walked that way to the dining pavilion.

Once we arrived to the giant marble steps, I realized something… where would we sit? It wasn't the biggest deal in the world but at the moment it seemed important. We stood there awkwardly until Chiron noticed us.

"Come now, you shall sit with us this evening," he said, gesturing to the table where he was seated. He was seated at the grand table near the hearth along with Mr. D, some satyrs and the nymphs.

As we sat down between Chiron and Grover, Chiron noticed that Annabeth's hand and mine were interlocked. He sent me a questioning look and I just smiled. He shook his head but still smiled and said, "Congratulations, I knew it would happen eventually," followed by a wink.

As everyone filed in they began noticing Annabeth and my presence. Eyes lingered on us, which was a little unsettling. There were a lot of whispers, "Is that?" "No way!" "Are they…?" "It can't be." There was a roar of whispers consuming the pavilion. They built, and built until Chiron's pounding hoof silenced them.

"Thank you. As you have probably seen, Percy and Annabeth are back. Though it can't be permanent, we shall make the best of it," he said, "Would you like to say anything my young gods?" he asked, the question obviously directed toward Annabeth and me.

Another round of whispers passed, "Did he just say… gods?"

I stood and said, "Yeah, he said gods. Crazy, huh?"

"What are you the god of, Percy?" one of the younger kids shouted.

I smiled widely, as I usually did when it came to my title, and said, "Waves and tides."

A couple campers "ooed" and "awed". Then I continued, "Annabeth," I said gesturing toward her," is the goddess of architecture." She stood and curtsied with an invisible dress. I smiled down at her.

We ate and laughed, just like old times. As the campers went to the brazier to pray to the gods, a couple questions came up and asked questions while others just ogled.

Once everyone sat back down with their food; Chiron's hoof pounded against the marble once again. He spoke, "Would you, Percy and Annabeth, like to join us in a game of capture the flag?"

As if he had said magic words, every single face lit up smiled at the thought of an unscheduled capture the flag game. Annabeth's and my face did the same. "Of course! We would love to… on one condition."

"And that would be?" Chiron asked.

"We," she gestured toward the two of us with her lips forming into a smirk, "get to be the captains." I smiled widely at the idea, just like old times.

Chiron smiled too, and nodded his head.

We split the campers into two teams and because the game was so short notice, we did a standard one man, or in this case cabin, pick. I let Annabeth chose first and of course she chose the Athena cabin. Then it was my turn. I chose the Hermes cabin, mostly for their number and thievery skills. The cabins were divided into the usual teams. My team, the blue team, got the Eastern territory; which gave us the advantage of a higher terrain.

We all geared up, ran to our positions, I had assigned each cabin a post, and waited silently for a horn's signal.

As soon as it blew, my team commenced. I ran with the other offensive campers on my team toward the river, the territory line. I stopped suddenly. Some of the campers looked back at me, confused. I felt a strange presence in me; I was suddenly aware of an odd, almost extra, sense, as if someone was in my territory.

I realized what it was as fast as it hit me; Annabeth's offense was in the river, I could feel it. I felt their bodies splash through the soft currents moving down the steam... I also felt where they were.

"There's a group of the other team crossing over the northern river, if some of us go there we can cut them off," I announced to the campers. I sent ten of them to stop the six crossing the border while the rest of my offensive team continued toward the river.

Once we reached the boundary, I wanted to continue with them but I knew I would be of much more assistance on border patrol. I said, "Keep going! Remember the plan!" They nodded and continued into the other team's territory.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the movement I felt in the northern part of the river. I could feel the currents curving around the campers as they battled in the water. I felt my team advancing on the other. Then I felt a disturbance in the southern part of the river. A group of nine was advancing through the water. I knew that the defensive team was far away, probably near the flag, I didn't want them that close. I decided to test my water skills and I willed the current to quicken. I expected to feel the familiar tug but was shocked to find that nothing happened. _Are my powers gone? _I thought. Then I tried again, concentrating hard. I felt the soft waves grow stronger. I knew that I had made the change but there was no pull in my stomach, instead it felt as it I was controlling the water as if it were an extension of myself, another limb. The current moved at my will, I swept the group off their feet with the water. I made the waves bigger, soaking the nine campers. I allowed the water to carry them down the up the river. Then, I ceased. I felt the group frantically scurry out of the river back toward their territory.

I smiled broadly at my triumph. I stood just twenty feet from the mid-river, so I was baffled when I felt someone stir the water directly in from of me. I saw no one there. I felt whoever it was shuffle through the water and climb out of the river on my territory, but I still saw no one.

I knew who it was. An even match. A god verses a god. This would be fun.

I had to act fast so I wouldn't lose her trail. I watched carefully and listened. I heard and saw nothing. After a brief second, I heard a twig snap no more than five feet to my right. I quickly lunged and swung my sword in her direction. I heard a satisfying _PANG!_ as my sword rammed into her shield.

I heard her roll backwards to gain better footing and I heard the WOOSH! of her knife gliding toward my neck. I ducked and swung my leg around, knocking her off her feet. When she hit the ground, her Yankees cap tumbled off her head. Annabeth quickly recovered; she got back to her feet and smacked her shield against my forehead. It really didn't hurt very much but it made me lose my balance, sending me tumbling into my backwards.

I shifted my body so I would land on my side, being sure not to give Annabeth any opening, and took the impact with my elbow. She tried to pin me down but I kicked her, propelling her five feet away. She tried to get back on her feet but I was too fast. I pinned her arms above her head with one hand while my other hand held my sword to her throat. I felt her gulp hard and I eased the pressure I had on the sword just a tad. I must have eased up a little too much because she head butted me. It didn't hurt, but it surprised me so much that I let her arms go. Before I knew it, she had given my chest a hard shove, successfully freeing herself and pushing me to my back.

She immediately took advantage of the situation and pinned me to the ground. She placed her legs on either side of me and put her dagger to my neck. In a panic, did the first thing that came to my mind. I built up the small waves of the river until they were gushing rapids, then I set them loose.

They swept Annabeth off of me, flipping her over my head. She coughed and sputtered and cursed. Then I ran toward the water and she quickly followed. I jumped in and she hesitated.

"Are you afraid of a little water?" I taunted, coaxing her into my domain.

She got a determined look on her face and she charged into the river. Bad move. I sped the current under her the second her feet impacted the water. She had no time to gain her balance so she slipped under. I waited for her to resurface. She had been under for about a minute so I panicked and dove under after her.

She had been waiting under the water and when I moved close enough, she kicked me right in the crotch. I doubled over in pain, lying at the floor of the river.

Annabeth scrambled out of the water, ran to pick up her hat, and disappeared into the forest of my territory. I still couldn't move due to my oh-so-pleasant crotch-kicking, so I just waited in the water for what felt like an hour. I focused on the water, allowing it to give me strength. The second I stood, Annabeth glided over me with my flag raised in her hand. She won.

Chiron galloped to us and called the game, announcing my defeat. Her team pooled around her, raising her onto their shoulders in victory.

The campers headed back to their cabins, all giving both Annabeth and me hugs, claps of the back, handshakes, or warm smiles on their way past us. Chiron, Grover, Rachel, Annabeth, and I headed back to the big house. Annabeth and I lagged behind the others, which meant more alone time for us. I reached out and grabbed Annabeth's hand, but then I tried something different. I swept our clasped hands up and swung my arm carefully over her shoulder in one fluid movement. She looked up at me, one eyebrow skeptically raised, and smiled. I blushed slightly at my own cheesiness. She released my hand, which she was still holding, even with my arm around her shoulder, and wrapped it around my waist. She leaned her head on my shoulder for a moment, but then she unwounded herself from me and shot me a teasing smile. "Race you!" she said before taking off pasted the others. I laughed and ran after her, followed by the others.

We stopped at the porch and said our goodbyes.

"You'd better not be a stranger, man," Grover said and clapped my back.

"I can't promise that we'll come often, but you'll see us again soon," I said.

"He's right, there is a lot of work I still have to finish: the courtyard, the three main squares, the west gardens, a couple shops, and a few houses, including Percy's," Annabeth said.

"Where are you staying right now?" Rachel asked Percy.

"Well, as of today, I am going to stay with Annabeth," All the reactions had me baffled for a moment. Rachel raised her eyebrows in shock, Grover smirked and lifted an eyebrow suggestively, and Annabeth blushed brightly. Chiron had already retired into the Big House, but I am sure his expression would yield something similar to what I was seeing here. I was suddenly extremely aware that my hand had found hers again and of the bright blush coloring my cheeks. "Um… we should get going," I said to break the awkward silence.

"Yeah, it's getting late. We will see you guys soon, okay? Close your eyes." Annabeth said.

And with that we, still hand in hand, thought in unison, _Olympus_, we snapped, _1, 2, 3_.

**Please Review! I am sorry I was so late for this chapter; I am working really hard to write faster! Thank you for being patient! I hope you enjoyed it! I would love some constructive criticism!**


	9. Late Night Questioning

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all. This is kind of a fluff chapter, I hope you like it!**

When we opened our eyes we were standing in the half-destroyed Olympian courtyard.

I looked over at Annabeth. She was looking down at our interlocked hands, and then she looked up to meet my gaze. I was pretty sure she was expecting me to let go, but I just smiled at her. I didn't want to let go so soon.

We walked down the cobblestone road to Annabeth's house. Altogether the small house was very plain. It had soft grey walls with a nice blue roof. The windows were basic with grey trimming. The house itself was stunning, even though it appeared dull and placid. Then I realized that was the most beautiful thing about it, its simplicity.

She led the way into the little house. I'd seen it before when I moved my things in the other day, so I wasn't very taken in by it. I would be staying on the couch in the living room, which wasn't bad at all. She had a comfortable bluish-grey couch, a matching arm chair, a good sized television, a shelf of books, and a mini fridge in that tiny room. It looked really cozy, much better than Momus' dirty shack; of course any house would be better than his.

"You want to watch some TV?" Annabeth asked, sweeping a piece of hair behind her ear with her free hand. I smiled and nodded, pulling her with me to the couch.

I sat down and patted the open space next to me, smiling widely. She smiled, rolled her eyes, and shook her head in mock disappointment. But, she complied. I grabbed the remote off of the grey end table and pushed the power button. Hephaestus TV came on first.

I groaned internally. I wonder what poor kids Hephaestus is messing with now. I didn't think Annabeth would enjoy watching this, so I changed the channel.

"Wait, go back. I want to see if any other demigods are being set up. Poor things," she said. I shrugged, smiling because she shared my curiosity, and turned it back.

We only saw the end of the show. It was about some Jason kid and his two friends. I had to admit, I was pretty happy that Annabeth and I were off the menu for comedy central, Hephaestus style.

"You want something to drink?" Annabeth asked as soon as the commercials started.

"Yeah, sure. You have nectar here?" I asked.

"Of course, it stinks that soda is useless to us now, huh?" she smirked.

"Psh, yeah, that's a deal breaker! I feel cheated."

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically, standing up and moving toward the mini fridge; I reluctantly let her hand go and grimaced internally. "It was just a simple statement," she muttered as she tugged on the fridge door and retrieved a bottle of golden liquid.

She reached up and grabbed two cups from the top of the fridge and poured the nectar in each glass. She sat back down, a little closer to me than before, and handed me the glass. I took a big gulp and marveled at the taste; it was like drinking a batch of freshly baked brownies, but it was refreshing and cool. Annabeth sipped her glass as well and let out a satisfied sigh.

I felt her lean in toward me a little and I responded by moving my arm around her, pulling her closer. It felt perfect, like she belonged there.

The last of the commercials came on and the next episode of Hephaestus TV started. Annabeth and I appeared on the screen, clinging to each other for dear life in a little, heart-shaped boat, surrounded by mechanical spiders, rushing through the tunnel of love. I flung my arm back in shock, hitting Annabeth on the back of the head with my elbow. "Ow!" she protested. I reached for the remote and quickly changed the channel.

I looked over at Annabeth as she rubbed the back of her head and my cheeks blazed bright red. "I am so sorry Annabeth!"

"It's fine. I can't believe they're still are playing that, it was four years ago for Zeus' sake!" she seemed just as flustered as I was. I reached my arm out gently and pulled her back toward me. She came willingly and rested her head on my chest. "Annoying little vultures," she muttered under her breath and I smiled slightly.

We ended up watching a Wheel-of-Fortune-like show with Tyche, the goddess of fortune, as the host. I turned the volume almost all the way down when I started getting bored of the seemingly cyclic shows, seriously it seemed like they were airing three shows over and over again.

"Hey, Annabeth?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to disturb her.

"Hmm?"

"What's on your mind right now? And, no editing," I asked.

She let out a content sigh, "Actually, I was thinking about earlier… when you kissed me." I saw her cheeks flush from the corner of my eye and I felt a confident smile take over my face.

"Oh, really? And what were you thinking about it?"

"I was thinking about how it surprised me."

"Did you like it?"

She laughed softly, "Yeah,"

I felt my smile widen, "What about it?"

She looked up into my eyes and smiled mischievously, "Nope, it's my turn."

"Ok, fine. But, you will answer that question tonight, right?" She thought about it and nodded, "Okay, shoot."

"Had you been planning on kissing me?"

I laughed softly, if I had been planning it I would have chickened out. "No, it was kind of a snap decision… if it was even a decision."

"Do you regret it?" she asked, with an almost hurt expression.

I looked deep into her grey eyes, "Why would you even ask such a silly question? Of course I don't regret it."

She sighed in relief, "Would you do it again?"

"I think so. If I could muster up the nerve, I would," I said truthfully.

She was quiet for a moment; I could tell that she was contemplating something. Then she asked, "Would you do it… now?"

I felt my eyes widen and my throat tighten. I looked down at her and gulped. I leaned in slightly and she nodded tenderly, urging me further.

I pressed my lips to hers, ever so gently. But, she didn't want that. She placed her hands behind my neck and crushed her lips into mine. I responded quickly, I locked my hands on her hips and pulled her closer. This was all so new to me; I had never really kissed anyone before. Well, there was that time Annabeth had kissed me on Mt. St. Helen and that time Rachel kissed me in Paul's car and earlier today in the Poseidon cabin, but this was… different. Well, first of all it lasted more than two seconds. Then, of course, there was the laying on the couch part. But, this really meant something, and… I could actual screw up.

I let her go, kissing her once more. She was breathing heavily, looking up at me in confusion. I tried to control my breathing and erotic heartbeat; it was beating so hard I could actually feel my heart in my feet. Annabeth continued to try and make eye contact while I was avoiding it. How many sixteen year old boys would stop a beautiful girl from kissing them in the middle of their first real kiss? I'd say not many.

I wanted to keep it slow, we had an eternity to be together, so why rush?

Annabeth was still panting softly, "It's still my turn. Why did you stop? Was I bad?"

"Oh, gods no! Don't even think that! I- I just… I felt like I was going to screw up…."

"That's it?"

"Well... also, and I am definitely turning into a girl as I say this, I think we should take it slow."

Annabeth just looked at me for a moment. She gulped hard and nodded, "I can do that."

It was quiet for a moment. I pulled her back to lean on my chest again and asked, "So, you still haven't told me," I said and kissed the top of her head softly.

"Hmm?"

"What did you like about kissing me?"

I felt her smile and she whispered almost inaudibly, "Everything." Then she fell asleep in my arms, on my chest.

For a moment I was in perfect peace. My own Isle of the Blessed… with Annabeth in my arms.

**Please Review! I feel like this was a kind of risky chapter, but I am taking my chances. Please tell me what you think! Remember I love constructive criticism! Thank you all!**


	10. The Day Off

**Final Disclaimer: I hope you realize by now that Rick Riordan owns all, this is my final disclaimer. So, to be clear, I do not own any of the characters, setting, etc.**

**Sorry that this chapter is late! This chapter is set a week or so after the last chapter. Think back to the middle of chapter two. Something about a little note is coming back. Enjoy!**

I woke up to a dark room and, with only three or four hours of sleep every night, I was use to this by now. I sat up, yawned, and stretched my arms over my head, flexing my fingers.

After making my way across the room in a sleepy hazy, I fumbled around inside my bag for clean clothes. I came across a pair of pants and a shirt, and then stumbled around until I found the washroom door. We didn't need bathrooms now that we were gods, but we still had washrooms. It was a comfort to feel clean, even if we always technically were clean. Anyway, after taking a shower, I washed my face, got dressed, and headed back out into the kitchen. Annabeth was sitting on the couch watching TV; she looked over at me and patted the open cushion next to her, inviting me to sit down. Curious to see what she was watching, I obliged; it turned out to be some kind of mythical animal planet. I shifted my weight, still unable to sit still for too long even after I became a god, and I heard a crinkling sound.

Confused, I reached into my pocket and found an old, wrinkled sheet of paper wadded into a ball.

"What's that?" Annabeth asked in a sleep-hazed voice.

"I really don't know," I said, starting to unfold it. It was a little drawn map with notes all over it. The map looked like it was suppose to portray the cabins of Camp Half-blood. The, the recollection hit me. "It's this idea I had like a week and a half ago. Hmm, I wonder if it is any good."

"Well, let me see it," she reached over and gently took it out of my hands and examined it. "Can you give me an idea of what I am looking at?"

"Well, before we became gods I did a lot of thinking about what I would lose from becoming a god," Annabeth's face fell slightly, "But, then I realized that-that I would... you know… have you. And… well, that balanced it out," she smiled and blushed, "So I was thinking about balance and, naturally, I started thinking about Nemesis. I got this idea to give a shout out the minor gods, as a kind of thank you," I said.

"You want to make the minor gods cabins?"

"Well, yeah. I even thought of a couple we could start with," I pointed to the names I had written on the paper: Morpheus, Iris, Nemesis, Hebe, and Hecate; the names were from the top of my head at the time.

"I actually really like this idea, Percy, but do you really think the Council will go for this? I mean, half of these gods were on the Titans' side."

A proud smile spread across my lips; Annabeth, the genius, liked my idea. It was kind of an ego boost. "Well, have you thought of _why_ they joined the Titans?" I asked and continued, not allowing her time to answer, "They weren't getting proper recognition."

Annabeth thought for a moment, "I see your point and I agree with you, I do. But, I really don't think the Council will even look at it."

I nodded to myself; she was right, they wouldn't do it. We are actually lucky that Zeus didn't punish every god who didn't side with Olympus, and, trust me, there are a lot. "Ethan. Every hero got a gift, a kind of wish. Without him, we wouldn't have won; he could have killed me and he didn't."

"So? What does Ethan have to do with this?" She asked, obviously annoyed at my changing the subject.

"Do you remember what he said? His last words?"

"Yeah… he wanted all the minor gods to have thrones…. Zeus definitely won't let them have thrones."

"True, but why not just take it a step down and give a few of them cabins, then we can work toward making a council of minor gods."

She nodded along, "I like that. Now, one, there are hundreds of minor gods, how can we give them all cabins?"

I deliberated that for a moment then said, "Well, maybe we do the most important ones."

"And how do we differentiate?"

That stumped me for a moment. "Well maybe we can… vote?"

"You mean, like, the minor gods vote for other minor gods? I actually like that…. And it works for both the cabins _and_ the council," she said.

"Who says they have to be different? Maybe the council members could be the ones to have the cabins. Then there are no complaints because they were voted for; it would be fair," I said.

"I like that. That could really work. But, question number two, how do we present this to the Olympian Council?"

"We could get a petition; I'm sure a bunch of gods would sign it. Or, maybe we could talk to Chiron about it?" I offered.

Annabeth shook her head, "It has to be a better reason than that. What have the gods granted gifts for?"

"Usually heroes or like big tasks and favors."

"Exactly! And what 'big favor' are we in the middle of right now?"

"Er… well we just saved Olympus…."

She shook her head, "No we already were awarded for that. Come on, Percy, think!"

"Well, you're rebuilding Olympus," I offered, uncertain.

"Bingo! So, what if I asked for something in return? Something big."

"That's perfect! They'll have to offer you something!"

"Yeah, and if I ask for a council for the minor gods they couldn't refuse!"

"They'd probably make you the head of the council," I mentioned and she smiled widely.

She led me into her office and I leaning in the doorway. She started to pull out a big rolled up blueprint of Olympus, which was expected. What caught me off guard was when she snapped her fingers and the blueprint popped up; miniature buildings and fountains sprang out from the paper. She started to get to work and I dutifully sat quietly, helping here and there with little things like measurements and holding things.

It was already sundown and Annabeth had been working all day on Olympus. I refused to let her have no fun and work all the time, "Annabeth, let's go to the beach."

She looked up from her work reluctantly, "Hmm?" she mumbled in her work-daze.

"Let's get out of Olympus for the night! We don't have to go to the Ocean; we can go anywhere, really. I just want to spend some time with you."

She sighed, "Percy, I'm sorry but I am just too busy!"

"C'mon Wise Girl, you have an eternity to finish Olympus; you can take one night off."

She gazed at me from across her office and sighed once more, "Ok, ok," she smiled, "I'll go to the beach with you."

I don't think I could have smiled wider. I ran over to her, grabbed her hand and thought the magic words that would poof us to the most beautiful beach.

My eyes opened to a secluded and crystal-clear beach; I felt a powerful race of energy as adrenaline spiked my blood… er well, ichor.

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked. Recently, I learned how to teleport both me and someone else without thinking in unison, that made it a lot easier to get places fast.

"We are in southern Fiji; almost completely uninhabited."

She looked around the beach dramatically, taking in every detail. "Wow. It is beautiful!"

"I thought you'd like it. And, we have it all to ourselves!" I was extremely excited that the time zone was different from New York. When it was twelve o'clock at night there, it was only six o'clock at night here! We could actually see the sunset together, it would be perfect.

"I think I am liking this," she said and smiled.

"Race you to the water!" I said, shoving her backwards softly then running toward the sparkling water.

"Uck! Unfair!" she called from behind me, but I was already half-way there. When I was about five feet away, she tackled me from behind. Dang she was fast! We rolled in the sand; which was both fun and extremely messy. Sand went flying and she pinned me down a little too easily. She smirked proudly at me and instead of pushing her off; I put my hands on either side of her face and pulled her toward myself. She was a little shocked but she went for it and smashed her lips into mine.

While kissing her, I realized that she was being the dominant one in the "relationship," if you could even call what we had a relationship. I didn't like that she was controlling the kiss. So I took action, wrapping my hands around her shoulders, softly at first, and then I turned her ever so slightly while pushing off the ground with my knee. Suddenly, I was on top. Her eyes shot open for a moment, but then she sort of melted into the kiss, allowing me to be the dominant figure.

We broke apart, both trying to catch our breath. My heart slowly returned to its natural tempo and I stood to help Annabeth up. As soon as I was on my feet, I felt completely uncomfortable; my entire body was covered in sand. I had sand in my hair, my ears, my shirt, my shorts, my boxers, and I had a thick coat of it everywhere else. I extended my arm to help Annabeth up and she gladly took it. Once she was on her feet I looked her up and down quickly; she was just as sand-coated as I was, maybe even more due to her long, blonde hair.

She laughed, "I think we need to get in the water to wash away this sand."

"Good idea," I agreed. I threw off my shirt and headed toward the water. When she didn't follow, I turned back around; Annabeth was just standing there with a quizzical expression, examining her clothes. "You okay, Wise Girl?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, I just want to try something." She closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath in. When she exhaled, she began to glow. Instinctively I looked away, but then I realized that it was no longer necessary. When I looked back, she was in a simple black bikini.

I ogled for a moment, and then, realizing that I hadn't said anything for about a minute, gulped hard. She looked down at her swimsuit, making sure she was all covered up. She was fine.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked.

"I learned it from my mother. She said that when you are a god, you can will something to be and it will come true," she said simply.

"Seriously, I think we need some kind of class on new gods. I like know nothing about it yet."

"Percy, stop exaggerating. We know lots of things about being a god, or at least the fundamentals," she said.

I shook my head, ignoring my irritation. Annabeth thought for a second and smiled brightly. She suddenly ran past me and jumped right into the ocean.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain! It's a sad day when a daughter of Athena gets in the water before a son of Poseidon," she taunted.

I smiled and plunged into the water after her, diving down deep and feeling the warm water on my skin, admiring its clarity. I made eye contact with her; she winked and raced into deeper water. We swam with small pod of dolphins and then sea turtles.

After about an hour in the water; we got out laid in the sand.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

She sighed contently, "The sun on my skin. What about you?"

"I am thinking about how you look like a goddess," I said and she blushed.

"I _am_ a goddess."

"And it shows," I replied. She rolled my eyes, smiling, and I turned toward her, propping myself up on my elbow. "What do you want to do?"

"Do we have to do something? I like sitting in the sun."

I sighed heavily, "Okay then, we will sit."

After about thirty seconds, Annabeth stood and ran for the edge of a large cliff. She looked back and waved me over, "C'mon Seaweed Brain! You're not going to let me beat you into the water again are you?" she shouted.

I gladly took the invitation and ran after her to the cliff. When I was just ten feet away, she jumped. I peered over the edge; Annabeth was just floating in the water with her arms relaxing behind her head. I rolled my eyes and laughed, calling down toward her, "Head starts don't count!" She stuck her tongue out and dove down into the water. After a couple steps back, I took a big leap, tucking my legs into my chest and wrapped my arms around them. When I hit the water a huge wave broke out in all directions. A cannonball just may be my new thing.

Annabeth and I took turns jumping of cliffs, moving to a higher one each time. We laid on the beach once more, marveling at the beautiful twilight. Both of us breathing heavily and closing our eyes after the sun was completely set.

"Percy," Annabeth sighed, "I have to get back to work."

A heavy sigh escaped my lips, my breath coming out in a huff. I knew that she would want to get back to work soon; I was just dreading the moment she brought it up. "Yeah, I know."

She reached over to grab my hand and closed her eyes. I closed mine as well, allowing my mind to go blank. When I opened them, we were back in Olympus; it was dark but you could tell that a feast was about to start. There were minor gods all over, all preparing for this week's feast.

"Hey, Wise Girl, do you want to go to the feast?" I asked. She deliberated and then shook her head.

"Sorry, Percy, I have a lot of work to catch up on." My face fell slightly and she quickly said, "But, I think I can spare a minute to get some ambrosia."

She grabbed my hand and led me to the square.

**Please Review! I hope you enjoyed, I am working hard to give longer chapters but I feel like they drag on. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think!**


	11. A Feast To Remember

**Wow I am SO sorry I am so late! It has to have been months! Well, I was in a really bad writers block, and I still am, but I am going to try my hardest to post more often! I think I am going to start trying posting every other Wednesday. It will make it a lot easier to be on time and make me feel less stressed.**

**Thank you for waiting all this time! I hope you enjoy!**

The Lotus Square, the biggest cross center of the minor gods' neighborhood, was the usual location of our weekly feasts. Annabeth and I arrived a little later than I anticipated. The ambrosia was already set on the grand table and the sparking nectar fountain was running. The Graces were dancing and the Muses were singing. There was talking and laughter filling the square.

Annabeth, not as enchanted by the wonderful festivities around her as I was but still holding my wrist, rushed me to the table. She grabbed a plate and a couple squares of ambrosia and started to scoot slowly toward our street, trying to escape so that she could continue her planning. When I noticed this, I subtly danced my way toward her and took the tray from her hands. I set it down on a near-by table.

"Percy!" she protested in a hushed tone.

I didn't respond, only leading her onto the dance floor. A slow song started playing. Annabeth blushed and looked into my eyes; hers sparkling magnificent and grey.

"Er… Percy," she said, her face flushing, "this is a slow song, you know… not exactly upbeat."

"I know," I said simply.

"So, um, let's wait for the next one," she said quickly, trying to squirm off of the floor.

"Or, let's not," I said, keeping her hand tightly in mine, successfully putting an end to her attempted escape.

She looked into my eyes again, her eyebrows puckered slightly. She was starting to get annoyed at my reluctance. But a soft smile hung on her lips and the blush lingered in her cheeks, revealing the fact that she wasn't completely opposed to my idea.

I pulled her back toward me and placed my hands on her hips. Annabeth didn't appreciate my smoothness and responded in an awkward and uncomfortable way. Her hands were balled into fits and they lay gawkily far apart from each other on my shoulders rather than around my neck. Her arms were pin-straight and obviously tense, like she had never been on a dance floor before. But I knew that wasn't true; we had danced our first dance when we were thirteen, while we were trying to find Bianca and Nico. She was so loose when we danced then and _I_ was the awkward one.

Despite Annabeth's rough stance, I started to sway softly; which wasn't exactly working out. I expected to just relax and talk to each other but Annabeth just wouldn't have that. She was looking down, focusing on her feet. She stepped on my feet a couple of times and I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not. I didn't let it bother me though; Annabeth was obviously bothered by something.

"Hey, Wise Girl?" I asked.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, her head still aimed pointedly at her feet.

I grimaced internally; I didn't like talking to the top of her head. I cupped her chin in my hand and guided her face toward mine. Her deep grey eyes connected to mine for a moment and her worried face softened.

She sighed heavily, "Sorry, Percy. I'm just really stressed. I mean, your idea for the new council and the cabins is great and I just want to get it going. I feel like your whole idea is depending on me, which means that I can't let you down."

"Annabeth, relax. Like I told you before, we have time; an eternity actually. And, if you want, I can get some of the Cyclopes to help out. They're really fast builders." I offered.

"I know they are, but before they can start building anything, I have to finish the plans and blueprints. There is just a lot to get done and I shouldn't be wasting my time dancing."

"Who says that dancing is a waste? I would say that more than anything else you need to have some fun. You need to relax; there will always be time for work and planning. You have to make time for fun too."

"The thing is, Percy, I have no time!" she said.

I chuckled softly, "Of course you do!"

"Why are you laughing at me?" She protested, clunking me on the side of the head softly.

"It's actually a little ironic hearing that from a god, don't you think?" I said while rubbing the spot she thumped teasingly.

She glared at me for a second and I just smiled back. In no time it was evident that she was fighting a smile away; her lips tightened, her jaw clenched, and the corners of her mouth threatened to curve upward. Finally, a small smile spread across her beautiful face. "You're such a seaweed brain, Percy," she giggled.

"I try."

And with that, she melted into my arms, allowing me to lead her in the dance with ease. Her stiffness vanished as we swayed to the soft beat of the Muses' song and the lyre's supple sound. I felt her lay her head on my chest, enjoying the moment as I was.

The song ended and the floor flooded with a stampede of eager dancers, awaiting the next upbeat song. I offered my hand to Annabeth, ready to escort her off the floor. I didn't really want to leave, but I figured that now Annabeth would want to grab some ambrosia and head home, but she didn't budge.

"Come on, let's go sit down and relax," I said, not allowing my mild disappointment show.

Annabeth just shook her head and smiled, "Or, let's not."

I let a giant grin spread on my lips and I kissed her cheek softly.

"What was that for?" she said with a rosy smile.

"For being amazing."

"Well, that's just cheesy."

"Hey, what can I say? It's true," I said with a teasing smirk. Then, she kissed me, touching her lips softly to mine. "And, what was that for?" I asked in a kind of daze.

"Because I'm amazing," she said smiling brightly.

The feast ended a little too soon. I had finally gotten Annabeth to relax for a while and now, with no distractions, she'd get right back to work. But I couldn't complain; after all, she _is_ Annabeth, she had to get back to work some time. I was just sad because on top of that, Annabeth and I didn't get to dance to another slow song.

The Muses were packing up their belongings like the magic instruments that played by themselves. Minor gods were clearing out in every direction; it pretty much felt like a mass exodus. Hercules, Hebe and a couple other gods were taking down the lights, which floated just above the square. All around us the feast was being taken apart.

"So do you want to head home?" Annabeth asked.

I suppressed a sigh, "Yeah, I guess."

She scrunched her eyebrows together, the way she does when she is planning something. I mentally shook my suspicion; I have never liked jumping the gun. Then she said, "Do you want to just take a walk?"

"Where?"

"I know a place, come on," she said while pulling on my wrist. She directed me down one of the streets I've never seen before, pulling me down lanes and allays in the oddest places. Finally, we got to a grassy hillside, probably a part of what once was Mt. Olympus, and she stopped. She turned around swiftly, making me quickly realize how close we were; her face was just inches from mine, sending a strong electrifying current between us. Her eyes blazed with excitement and she whispered, "Okay Percy, close your eyes."

I couldn't help the smirk that shown on my face when she asked, "Annabeth… really?"

"Yes, really. Now close your eyes."

I rolled my eyes and sighed in mock exasperation but did as she said. "Okay, now take my hand and follow me carefully," she said.

"Annabeth, you don't need to go through all the theatrics, I–"

"Shh! You have to be quiet or you'll ruin it!" she whispered in an austere way. I sighed again, this time a little more audibly, and we continued on.

After a couple poorly circumvented boulders, we stopped dead in our tracks. "Okay, stay here for a second; I want to check something," Annabeth whispered and I heard the grass crinkle under her feet as she walked away. In no less than five seconds she was back, "Now Percy, I want you to take about five steps to your right.

"Okay…." I said with confusion coloring my voice. I took five steps and then froze, waiting for further direction. "Annabeth?" I whispered urgently, "Um, Wise Girl, what next?"

I only felt her breath on my ear as she just barely breathed, "Open your eyes."

I snapped my eyes open and my breath caught in an instant. We were looking at a grassy, open mountain side. Placed perfectly centered was a large temple with slender columns and rose-covered garlands. In front of it was a sparkling fountain with an Aphrodite sculpture delicately positioned at the top. Floating lights filled the sky, just enough to not overpower the vision. But, despite the miraculous view, what caught my attention most was the pure white winged stallion drinking from a pond just to the left of the temple. Pegasus stood before us.

My eyes must have completely fallen out of my head by now. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Annabeth, what is this place?"

"It's one of Aphrodite's temples, and one of Pegasus's favorite places," she whispered simply.

"But, how did you know it was here?"

"Zeus gave me the original plans for Olympus about a week ago; I think he was hoping it would help me pick up the pace of my plans. Then, one day as I was studying the architectural designs of each temple, I found this."

I didn't respond; we just stood there in silence. It was so surreal, like I was dreaming or something. We just sat down and watched the scene as the water trickled and the candle lights flickered. Then, we watched as Pegasus flew into the distance.

"Wow," was all I could say.

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too; it truly is beautiful."

"It's okay; I mean it only ranks second in my book."

She looked over at me, perplexed. "Is there some ocean that's better?"

I laughed softly and smiled like an idiot, "No."

"Perseus Jackson, if you say it's me, I'm going to thump you in the head."

"Well then I won't say it…. But, it's true."

I earned a soft clunk in the head. "You're such a seaweed brain," she said while trying to maintain her annoyed expression; a soft smile and blush took over quickly. After another comfortable moment of silence she said, "So Percy, I actually wanted to bring you up here for something else."

"And what would that be?"

"We never did get to have a last dance."

I looked up at her in disbelief; I swear sometimes this girl could read my mind. I hurried onto my feet and offered my hand to Annabeth, doing my best to be a gentleman. "Would you care to dance, milady," I asked in a mock formal voice.

She giggled and placed her hand on her chest in mock disbelief, "Why, it would be my pleasure." She stood with me and placed her hands behind my neck while I let mine rest on her hips. I, then, started humming a stereotypical ballroom song and Annabeth laughed, rolling her eyes dramatically.

After about a minute, I started to want to actually dance to a song, one with meaning. I allowed myself to slowly fade out of the funny humming until we were dancing in silence. Then, Annabeth started to hum, although it was almost inaudible. I closed my eyes and listened carefully, trying my best to identify the song.

When I finally had it, I waited for a decent time to start.

She began nearing the end, which had the same melody as the beginning and I jumped in.

"_What day is it? And in what month? _

_This clock never seemed so alive_

_I can't keep up and I can't back down_

_I've been losing so much time,"_ I sang, softly at first, trying to stay in the rhythm of her humming

"_Cause it's you and me and all of the people_

_With nothing to do, nothing to lose_

_And it's you and me and all of the people_

_And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you,"_ I stopped before the next verse, realizing I didn't know the rest of the words. After my awkward pause, Annabeth laughed and picked up where I left off.

"_All of the things that I want to say_

_Just aren't coming out right_

_I'm tripping on words, you got my head spinning_

_I don't know where to go from here." _

We continued to sing the song, Annabeth singing the verses and me singing the chorus. We laughed and danced and, for a moment, it felt like it _was_ just Annabeth and me.

**Please Review! I am still very sorry that I am so late on this chapter and I will really, really try to post more often. I hope it was worth the wait! Leave me a review and tell me what you thought!**

**P.S. The song they were singing was "You and Me" by Lifehouse, just in case you wanted to know.**


	12. What Would You Have Done?

**I am so sorry that this is so late. Honestly I have no excuse. I got a review the other day – my first review in like months – and it inspired me to write another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy.**

"Percy?" Annabeth asked softly, as if testing to see if I was still awake.

"Yeah?" I responded, my voice was a little raspy from fatigue.

"Do you – I mean – what did you…?" she sputtered, unable to complete the thought.

"Spit it out Wise Girl, whatever it is can't be _that_ bad."

"Well, it's not bad, it is just… I don't know how to ask it."

"I don't mind waiting, just think it over," I said, beginning to rest my eyes as I had been before. Annabeth didn't say anything for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She, then, suddenly cleared her throat which successfully caught my attention.

"Percy… what would you have done if-if you were offered immortality and I… wasn't?" her voice gave in to a light shudder as she spoke then she waited for my answer with a subtly doubtful expression, hiding the hopeful glow in her eyes by looking away from me.

The question took me by surprise. I looked over at Annabeth, a visible mixture of curiosity and confusion colored my face. "Er… well, I don't really know..." I said, without putting much thought into my answer. Her face fell slightly and she turned away quickly. Uncertainty melted into determination as soon as I saw the sting on that beautiful face.

"You know what, no. I _do_ know what I would have done," I said with confidence; Annabeth's face lit with hope as our eyes locked and she read in my eyes what she knew I would say, "I could have never accepted this gift if you weren't offered the same."

"Thank you, Percy, but you don't know that. I–"

"Annabeth, that's the thing, I _do_ know. I could never be immortal without you. I could never be happy without you."

She smiled lightly, a blush marking her cheeks, "I feel the same way, Seaweed Brain, but neither of us could know what would have happened. It was a dumb question anyway."

"No, Annabeth. I know what I would have done," I said with a stern expression. "Remember what I told you about balance and how in becoming a god I would lose things but it would be okay because I would have you with me? Well that's true. If you weren't here with me, if you hadn't been by my side the whole time, I could never have done this."

She guffawed slightly and half smiled, "I shouldn't have asked. I mean there is no way to know."

"That's what I'm saying, Annabeth, I know. The way you looked at me when Zeus offered it to me… I could never have accepted."

She contemplated this for a moment then asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when Thalia became a huntress of Artemis?"

"Of course…" She eyed me cautiously, unsure of where I was headed.

"I was so sure that Artemis was going to ask _you_ to join her rather than Thalia. I was so, so sure. I was on the verge of a panic attack when she announced it. I just couldn't imagine losing you, even then. When Zeus offered me immortality, I saw on your face the same thing I felt." I paused to find her grey eyes with mine, "I could never have accepted this is you didn't."

I knew she finally believed me when her beautiful smile lit her face. Our eyes were still locked to one another and Annabeth touched her hand to my cheek. "You're amazing," she whispered.

"Well, that's just cheesy," I said with a goofy smile, quoting her past words.

She chuckled lightly, she knew she always called me out when I was being cheesy, and said, "Shut up," and pressed her lips to mine.

Her kiss was so soft, so controlled. I pushed it a little farther; I locked my hands around her waist and pulled her closer to me on the couch. She responded, brushing her fingers through my hair and kissing me with more passion. We rolled slightly so I lay on top of her on the couch.

We continued making out for what felt like hours. She brushed her hand at the hem of my shirt. I wasn't sure if it was on purpose so I ignored her at first, then she tugged my shirt up slightly. She made it clear now, she wanted my shirt off.

We broke apart for a moment as I pulled the fabric over my head. She was breathing heavily, as I was, so we took a break to catch our breath.

Annabeth moved from under me, adjusting herself so that she was now sitting next to me.

My breath was still labored and my heart was still fluttering; I concentrated on calming myself, counting Annabeth's slow even breaths. She took my hand in hers and traced over it with her fingers, letting them drag softly over my skin. My skin felt like it caught fire where her skin touched mine.

Her eyes found mine. They sparkled with something foreign to me. She smiled and looked away seemingly embarrassed. I cupped her face in my hand, guiding it to face me once more. Her cheeks were slightly pink. She must have been hiding a blush when she looked away.

I leaned in and kissed her ever so softly. When I pulled away I noticed her eyelids droop ever so slightly. I chucked quietly, "Are you tired, Wise Girl?" I asked.

She blinked sleepily a couple times, "Nope."

"Don't lie."

"Okay, a little," she admitted.

I couldn't help but smile. She was so… so perfect. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

She shook her head, "I can sleep here."

"You would rather sleep on a tiny sofa than sleep in your own big, comfortable bed?"

"No," she said, her eyes already closed, "but I do want to sleep in your arms."

I couldn't help but smile at that, "Alright, what if I take you to your bed and stay there with you?"

Her brow furrowed slightly as she considered my alternative then her face relaxed, "Okay," then she reached out her arms to me, "Carry me?"

I chucked and lifted her into my arms and headed for the stairs. Once I got to her bedroom door, I used my foot to open it and walked quietly into the simple, grey room. The only color in the room besides grey was the ocean blue comforter on the bed.

I gently placed her on the bed and covered her in the covers before scooting under them myself. She laid her head on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her. As I waited for sleep to take me, I studied Annabeth, her lightly tanned skin, the way her lips curve into a slight smile when she sleeps, the way she fits perfectly in my arms, the soft blond curls in her hair, the lemony smell that emanates from it.

This girl was my world. How could she have thought that I could have left her? It seems impossible, especially now. We've grown so close in the last couple months. We'd been dating now for three months and I already hate being without her. We have an eternity ahead of us. Forever.

With that thought, I fell into a happy, dreamless sleep.

**Please Review! I'm also sorry that this is a short, fluffy chapter. I am going to try to continue to post but I will not put out a scheduled time for posting. It used to stress me out and I don't want writing to stress me out.**

**I would really like some constructive criticism or just comments about the story/chapter. Reviews make me **_**want**_** to write more.**


	13. How Annabeth said 'Goodbye'

**Here's another chapter! I looked back at my last chapter (the one before the one I posted last week) and when I posted it, it was over a year ago! What? I guess I lost track of time. Anyhoo, thank you to all of my readers for sticking with me even though there was a ridiculous delay on posting (thank goodness for alerts!)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Annabeth paced around the coffee table talking emphatically into her cell phone, "No, no, no! I did the calculation! The equation worked perfectly, it has to work!" She paused for a moment to listen to the other line's response.

I sat patiently and silently on the couch, waiting for her to finish. Annabeth was extra stressed this week. The courtyard and the main squares were complete after 5 months of work and a lot of Cyclopes' help and now Annabeth was focusing of building a couple temples and monuments for the Olympians. This had her extra stressed because this is what would get her not only recognition but, if she made them well enough, it would also constitute the Olympians giving her a gift, one request. With this one request she would ask for a second council for minor gods and cabins to go with them.

"No! Two inches might as well be two feet, and two feet might as well be two yards. How can we put together a temple whose measurements are two yards off?" Her voice raised an octave as she spoke. A small smile appeared on my face at her over-dramatic rendition of the issue.

"Damn it! Now there are _two_ mismeasured marble slabs? Okay, that's it, I am coming down there!" she snapped the phone shut and huffed angrily.

She had finally stopped pacing. Now she just stood there rigidly with her eyes shut and her fingers pressed to her temples. She was breathing heavily, frustrated.

"Annabeth?" I asked. There was no response. No movement. Nothing. "Annabeth," I said again more urgently, still nothing. I crossed over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly, "Wise Girl!"

"Hmm?" she still didn't move and now her brow was furrowed.

"Wise Girl, look at me. Open your eyes," she sluggishly did as I asked. "Breathe," I told her.

She nodded reluctantly and let out a shaky breath, then she shook her head, "Percy, I can't. I know I say that a lot but this time I really can't calm down. I have so much to do and–"

I interrupted her with a kiss. "Breathe," I whispered when I pulled away.

She nodded again with a little less reluctance. "You're right, you're right, you're right. I'm useless when I get like this."

"You're not useless, you're never useless. It's just hard to see you get yourself so worked up."

She nodded, looking down. "I need to go down there. I need to figure out what when wrong."

"I'll come with you."

"You don't have to. You should catch up with Poseidon; didn't he offer to help you understand your domain more? I don't want you to sit around bored again; I feel like I always drag you all over the place."

"It is never unwilling," I chuckled and kissed her once more. "Now, where are we headed to today?"

"It's just passed the Great Hall on a hill-like cloud. The nephelai helped me out and made the cloud more solid so I could use it as the site."

"Those are the cloud nymphs right? I hate when people use all those fancy names, it gets all confusing."

"Well, if you would just take the time to learn them, I bet you would have a lot more friends here on Olympus."

"I have plenty of friends and you know it."

She laughed and shook her head, "Come on, Seaweed Brain. I don't want those Cyclopes to mess up anything else."

I gave a flagrant, exasperated sigh, "When will the prejudices ever end!"

She stopped for a moment and assessed my expression, checking to see if I was being serious. It turned into a stare-down and then into a full-fledged straight-face contest.

She raised one of her delicate eyebrows ever so slightly, challenging me to break. This on top of the serious face she was keeping made me start to smile. I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to smile away. Annabeth's face began to tweak as she fought away her own smile at my struggle. I narrowed my eyes and in response her whole face twisted as she resisted the urge. As I watched her fight for composure and saw the way her brow tightened and her lips puckered slightly as she concentrated, I lost it.

I smiled and I laughed pretty much in her face and she did the same just a millisecond after I lost composure.

After a second of doubled-over laughter, we calmed ourselves once more. Annabeth seemed so much less stressed after our little face to face brawl.

I started to gather Annabeth's things as she caught her breath. I grabbed her blueprints and schematics related to the Zeus temple along with her Daedalus laptop. Once I'd finished I noticed Annabeth watching me with those familiar sparkling eyes and odd expression.

"What are you looking at, Wise Girl? Is everything okay?"

She shook her head as if to clear it and said, "Yeah, I was just– Sorry, was I staring?"

"Mhmm," I said with a chuckle.

"Percy, I…" she said, trailing off as if rethinking what she was about to say.

"Yeah?"

She kept her eyes on me and pressed her lips together, still contemplating. Then, she smiled, closed the distance between us, and kissed me again, making my heart flutter like a girl. "Come on," she said with a smile gracing her lips. She took my hand and led me out the door.

"Are you sure these were measured properly?" Annabeth asked, eyeing the problem marble slabs.

"Of course, Lady Annabeth. We have been very careful to follow your directions," said one of the Cyclopes builders. He was one of the burly, head builders. He was big and thick just as all the other Cyclopes helping on Olympus.

"You know what, it doesn't matter. We will have to just start from scratch and use the ruined pieces somewhere else," Annabeth said with her eyes glued to her laptop. "How many more uncut marble slabs do we have?"

"Eight, Lady Annabeth."

"I can work with that. Okay, you guys are no longer needed on this site until I can figure out how to fix this. Go see if Demeter needs any help mending the west gardens," she ordered.

Once all the Cyclopes scuttled away, Annabeth sat down on a block of marble and buried her face in her hands.

I crossed over to her and knelt by her side, "Annabeth? Hey, Wise Girl, it's going to be okay," I said rubbing her back reassuringly.

"I know, I know. It is just hard to watch something you create fall apart. I could easily make a new design, it will just take time. I'm sorry that I am taking so long to finish, Percy. I want so much to get this done so that we can present your idea."

"Annabeth, I should have never shared that idea with you. It has stressed you out so much. There's no rush. As I have said a million times: we have an eternity. It actually may be better that it is taking a while. Every day more minor gods return from who knows where and as time passes the Olympians are lightening up on them."

"That's true," she said in a small voice.

"So what do you say you and I spend the day on Earth? Its only noon, we have plenty of time to do anything and be back before the feast tonight."

"What are you proposing?" she asked, she was looking down, trying to hide the small smile on her face.

"Hmm, we can go to France? It has the Eiffel Tower and that big arch thing. Or, we can go visit my mom and Paul; we haven't seen them in over two weeks. Or we could visit camp again or your dad or…" I only caught my slip just after it escaped my lips.

Annabeth's face fell. I knew she had had issues with her Dad throughout her life; I don't know how I let that slip. She'd finally opened up to me about her father about a month after we'd started dating when I got the nerve to ask.

She'd told me that she had taken a plane to San Francisco. It had worried her that she only had 48 hours to say goodbye to begin with and was losing 12 hours for travel – six coming and six going.

She had arrived at her dad's house really late at night and snuck into her bedroom so she wouldn't disturb anyone. She had explained her elaborate route of vines that led to her window. When she got there she began to plan out how she would tell them. She would write letters to each of them; one to her dad, one to her step mom, and one to each of the twins. She said she had started crying as she wrote them, especially on her dad's.

When morning came, she had packed a small bag to make it look as if she'd just arrived, leaving the letters safely on her bed for later. She had climbed back down the vine and moved to the front door.

She had stayed there for a moment. Her hand raised in a fist, just inches from the door. Her knees had wobbled as she fought to calm her nerves. She lightly tapped her knuckles to the wood and froze, listening for a response, any response.

There was no sound, no movement.

Annabeth had let out a sigh of relief at that. She collected herself again for a moment before knocking again a bit more audibly. Again there was no response.

She climbed back into her second story bedroom window and silently continued into the hallway. As she treaded softly through the house, she had listened carefully for any sign of her family: whispers, footsteps, snoring, anything.

She had made her way down to the kitchen, and sat at the table. The digital clock above the oven read 8:41. It had made no sense to her; this is when her dad usually drank his coffee and read the morning paper during the summer while her stepmom made breakfast for the boys. But they were nowhere to be found.

Annabeth had figured that they must still be sleeping, so she'd decided to watch TV until someone woke up. She ended up watching the discovery channel until noon. Still the house was empty.

She, then, had tried to call her dad but accidentally called the house phone instead. The phone sounded from the kitchen. She set her cell phone down as it continued to call the landline and then went to find the phone to see if the messages had been checked recently. She had been beginning to fear that something had happened to them. Would a monster attack her family in her absence? Just as she reached the machine, the outgoing sounded.

"You have reached Fredrick, Martha, Mathew, and Bobby Chase." They each had said their own name and said "Chase" in unison. The boys giggled quietly in the background as her father continued, "We cannot reach the phone right now nor will we be able to in a while. Disneyland has other plans for us! If you really need to get in touch with any of us, call our cell phones, but beware, we probably won't have them on hand on Splash Mountain!" In the background the boys were cheering at the mention of Disneyland and Splash Mountain. There was a long, low beep that followed. Then, there was silence.

Realization had sunken into her slower than it should have. Those had been her last days on earth and she wouldn't have anyone to share them with. She sat there alone in living room of the empty house, the TV still playing its program at the lowest volume setting.

Her plane wouldn't leave back to New York until 10 am tomorrow morning. Less than 24 hours.

She had retreated into her room again, spending the day sifting through her old memories. She had found pictures of her and a little group of friends she had before she ran away as well as a picture of her and a boy she used to like in kindergarten named Clay or something.

After hours of going through everything in her room, Annabeth had compiled a little bag of memories. These were all the memories that she had held most dear: the knife Luke had given her, a bracelet her friend made her in preschool, and a picture of an owl she had drawn when she was four. She had decided to leave all of the rest of her memories there in her room. She'd always preferred to travel light anyway.

It was almost midnight when she'd finished reminiscing and decided to get to bed. On her bed still laid the letters she'd written. She had angrily swept them off her bed and on to the floor and crawled into her bed to sleep.

She had woken up the next day around 8:30. She had hurried down the stairs, half-hoping to find her brothers watching Saturday morning cartoons just to find herself standing in the empty living room of an empty house once more.

She steeled her control of her emotions as the tears began to sting in her eyes.

"It's not worth it," she had told herself. She wandered into the kitchen, thinking only one thing: _It's not worth it_.

She found herself at the phone again, her finger hovering over the playback button on the answering machine. She tapped it once, as gingerly as she could.

"You have reached Fredrick, Martha, Mathew, and Bobby Chase. We cannot reach the phone right now nor will we be able to in a while. Disneyland has other plans for us! If you really need to get in touch with any of us, call our cell phones, but beware, we probably won't have them on hand on Splash Mountain!" The long beep sounded. Silence.

This time when she heard the message she didn't feel sad and alone as she had before. This time she had felt livid and abandoned. Her anger swelled as she stood there in the kitchen, poised in front of the machine, utterly motionless.

She has stayed in place, eyes closed, jaw clenched, until she was fuming. She had stalked out of the kitchen and stomped her way up the stairs. She'd burst into her room and ripped her bag off the ground only to be stopped in her tracks by the sight of the papers strewn across the floor.

Her rage had faded in an instant. She realized that she would not get to say goodbye. Her eyes stung with the tears that threatened to show and she'd picked up the letters that lay on the ground in disarray.

She had looked over at the clock dejectedly. Nine o' seven. She had to leave for the airport now if she didn't want to miss her flight. She'd collected her things and drifted down the stairs in a doleful daze.

Just as she had been about to open the door, something sounded from the other side. Annabeth froze. She had listened carefully to identify the sound and then the door hand jiggled ever so slightly. Annabeth's knife was in her hand in an instant as she cautiously examined the door.

The door had opened. Annabeth, moments ago poised to attack any monster that came her way, had dropped her knife. There stood her father.

"Fredrick, help me get the boys inside, they fell back asleep on the ride…" her stepmom had frozen in the doorway when she saw Annabeth in their living room. "I'll get them," she'd said softly and disappeared out the door once more.

"Annabeth, what are you doing here? Come here," her dad had said, holding his arms out to her. Annabeth's couldn't stop the tears that fell down her cheeks and she had hugged her father.

She'd gulped back at the lump in her throat and said, "I came to say goodbye."

Her father had pulled away from their embrace to look at her, "Goodbye? You traveled all the way across the country just to say goodbye?" he'd asked. Annabeth had nodded as she wiped away the tears that continued to stream down her face. "How long have you been here? Why are you leaving so soon? When are you coming back?"

Annabeth answered, "I got here Thursday morning and I don't know if I am coming back."

Her father's face grew serious in response, "What do you mean?"

"There was a war in New York, I'm sure you've heard of the severe electric storms around Manhattan. It was between the Gods and the Titans and the Gods won thanks to me and Percy. They offered us the greatest gift they could offer," she'd paused just to see her father staring at her expectantly and she continued, "They are going to make us gods. So, I won't live on earth anymore and I don't know if I will be able to visit."

Her dad had stared at her for a moment longer and said, "Okay."

"Okay?" she'd asked; his response had taken her off guard. He nodded and his eyes became hard and distant. Annabeth's jaw tightened, "I just told you that your only daughter is leaving – for something considered the greatest honor, I might add – and possibly is never coming back and your only response is 'okay'?"

Her father then had said, "I have nothing to say."

"How about goodbye? Or even congratulations, for gods sake! This is an honor!" Annabeth had begun to yell at her dad, using all of her efforts to keep the tears at bay.

Her father's face was hard as he said, "Congratulations. Goodbye."

Annabeth had gulped at the growing lump in her throat, "So, that's it then?" Avoiding eye contact, her dad had just nodded. "Glad to know I mean so much to you."

"It's not as though you were ever really here anyway," he'd said in a detached voice.

Annabeth had felt her face harden, "You didn't give me reason to be." At that she'd pulled the letters she'd planned to leave in the mailbox out of her bag, held them up to her father, ripped them all down the middle as one, and let them fall and scatter to the floor. Then, she had picked up her knife that she'd left on the floor and ran out the still open door, not giving her step mom or her brothers a second glance as she sprinted passed them.

She'd spent the whole bus and plane ride composing herself, putting the last two days behind her.

When she had reached the New York Airport it was only about 10 minutes until she should be on Olympus, and that was pushing it. She'd hoped to go to camp to get her last few memories but time wouldn't allow it. She had taken a taxi to the Empire State building and received the special elevator key card. Just as she got on the elevator, she saw me with my mom and Paul. She'd planned on waiting for me but felt her composure waver as I gave Paul a hug. She went up the elevator to wait for me at the top so that she could calm herself for a moment.

When the elevator sounded and the door opened Hermes had been leaning against the elevator door frame nonchalantly.

"Hello, Annabeth," he'd said.

"Hermes," she'd said, nodding her head in greeting.

"I have something for you," he had said, reaching into his mailbag. He pulled out Daedalus' laptop and placed it in her hands. Then continued to rummage through until he found a leather necklace decorated with clay beads and a gold ring. He placed it on top of the laptop.

She had stood there speechless for a moment as she took in what had just happened. He had just given Annabeth the one keepsake that she's really wanted: her camp necklace. The necklace had compiled into it countless memories. It was priceless.

Hermes broke the short silence, "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted before, the way I blamed you. It wasn't your fault in the slightest. I thought I would… collect a couple of your things to say I am sorry."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't reach out to him when I had the chance," she'd said.

He shook his head. "It's in the past; he made the right choice in the end. We might as well have a fresh start now that you're going to be here forever," he'd said with a sly smile, softly tapping her shoulder with his fist. She couldn't help but smile.

The elevator sounded and the doors opened. Her attention was taken for a second and when she looked back, Hermes was gone.

That's when I'd emerged from the elevator and shot her my best 'What are you doing' face and she'd just said, "Shut up and come on, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth sat there in front of me, her jaw tight.

"Annabeth, Wise Girl, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… that was…. I'm sorry," I sputtered.

She shook her head, her head still facing the ground, "It's okay. That was months ago, I should get over it."

"You don't have to. You can face it when you are ready," I said, kissing her forehead.

A small smile spread on her lips and, in response, mine followed.

"You know what? For the first time in months, I don't want to work on rebuilding Olympus right now. Do you want to have a picnic on the mountain somewhere?"

We ended up with a blanket, an empty picnic basket, and a bottle of nectar on a grassy spot on a low cliff overlooking Olympus to the right and New York City to the left. We sat side by side on our stomachs, looking down at the beautiful view, and waiting for sunset.

I shifted my weight and faced Annabeth, taking in her beauty. There wasn't one thing about this girl before me that I didn't like. Sure she was bossy, and OCD, and aggressive; but that is who she is and I love her all the more for it…. I-I love her…. I am in love with Annabeth Chase.

"Annabeth…."

**Please Review! Thank you to those who reviewed, I love them. I hope more of you will review and leave your comments for this chapter. I really want to know what you like and don't like.**

**Also, this is my longest chapter EVER it is longer than my first 2 chapters combined. I considered making it 2 chapters but I figured you guys deserve a super chapter after my year of absence.**

**I hope you liked it! Please Review and tell me what you thought!**


End file.
